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    Breaking! Tooth Fairy tightens purse strings: Down 8 percent from 2013

    Aug. 21, 2014
    Visa’s annual Tooth Fairy survey shows that American children are receiving an average of $3.40 per lost tooth this year, down 8 percent from last year.  
    Visa’s annual Tooth Fairy survey shows that American children are receiving an average of $3.40 per lost tooth this year, down 8 percent from last year. For a full set of 20 baby teeth, American kids will be getting a slightly more modest – but still hefty – $68, as compared to last year’s average of $74.

    Please join Visa’s Practical Money Skills on Thursday, Aug. 21, to discuss the results via live TweetChat hosted by Wise Bread at 3pm EST. The chat can be accessed at tweetchat.com by using the hashtag, #WBChat, or the hashtag, #toothfairycalculator.

    Jason Alderman, a personal finance expert and the Senior Director of Visa’s Global Financial Education Programs, will also be available to discuss tips on how parents can use the Tooth Fairy’s visit as an opportunity to lay the foundation for helping their children develop sound money management habits early in life.

    Additional findings from the survey include:

    • Fathers reported a far more indulgent Tooth Fairy, saying that the Fairy left 45 percent more than moms said she did: $4.20 versus $2.90.
    • The Fairy may be giving just what she has in her pocket; over 50 percent of kids will get either $1 or $5.
    • 33 percent of respondents reported that the Tooth Fairy left a dollar.
    • Only 3.6 percent said that the Tooth Fairy left $20 or more, down from 6 percent in 2013.
    • With the exchange rate, kids in Canada are receiving the equivalent of $2.60 in U.S. dollars on average this year – the same amount the Tooth Fairy was leaving kids in the U.S. in 2011.
    • The Tooth Fairy spoiled kids in the West the most, leaving $3.60. Kids in the South and Northeast will each receive an average of about $3.50. The Tooth Fairy was at her most thrifty in the Midwest, leaving an average of only $3.10.

    The Tooth Fairy calculator and app are part of Visa’s free, award-winning financial education program, Practical Money Skills for Life, which reaches millions of people around the world each year. Launched in 1995, the program is now available in 10 languages in more than 30 countries. At Practical Money Skills for Life, educators, parents and students can access free educational resources including personal finance articles, games, lesson plans, and more. The app is available for iPhones and iPads at the iTunes Store, and the calculator is available at facebook.com/ToothFairyCalculator.

    **The survey results are based on approximately 3,000 telephone interviews with adults aged 18 or older and approximately 1,000 among households with children under age 13, in cooperation with GfK Roper’s Omnibus Service, OmniTel. The margin of error on a sample of 1,000 is +/-3 percentage points.