75% of Children Save Communion Cash

Ulster Bank survey finds kids receive on average €463 in Communion Cash windfall

16th June 2008

A national survey undertaken by Ulster Bank has shown that there is a strong savings habit evident in Irish children. 75% of children questioned said that they put some of the cash they receive when making their Holy Communion away by way of making a deposit in their savings account. The survey shows that children receive on average €463 by way of cash gifts with the highest proportion coming from family friends. Parents questioned as part of the survey outlined they spent on average €748 on this important day for children

While the average cash receipt was €463, almost one quarter (24%) of children received between €500 and €1,000, with 5% reaping a grand reward of over €1,000. The survey also revealed their spending habits with a higher proportion of children spending their Communion windfall on computer games (36%) and clothes (33%). However, interestingly one in ten kids are still using their money to buy a new bike.

Commenting at the launch of the survey, Mr. Patrick Farrell, Head of Product Management, at Ulster Bank said: "The First Holy Communion is an important event for the majority of Irish children and their families. It's encouraging to see that there's clear evidence of a strong savings habit among kids as 75% said that they saved some of the cash they got as presents."

He continued, "We relaunched Henri Hippo back in April and to date we have seen a remarkable interest in our urfirst savings account. Our account openings have increased by 300% which backs up the research findings that a good proportion of today's children are saving.

The source of the gifts was also investigated and found that the highest proportion of gifts received came from family friends amounting to, on average, €151 compared with the total contribution from Aunts and Uncles which averaged €116. The most common gift among all classes of benefactor was €40 - €60 while 15% of children received more than €200 overall from family friends with 13% also receiving a similar amount from their aunts and uncles.

Of the parents asked about the overall cost of Holy Communion 17% indicated that they spent more €1,000 with one in ten incurring over €1,500 on the day. Food and drink was the most significant cost item with an average spend of €354, however, 6% of parents spend in excess of €1,000.

Last April, Ulster Bank brought back the iconic 1980s children's character Henri Hippo who introduced the idea of saving to a generation of Irish children nearly 30 years ago. Each child up to 11 years old that opens a urfirst instant access savings account with as little as €5 in any of Ulster Bank's 131 branches across the Republic of Ireland will receive the famous Henri Hippo moneybox.