The next generation of fintech users will expect more

The ‘Pocket Money Pay Gap’ is reversed and the kids are investing in crypto — fintech better keep up.

Forget Gen Z and Gen Alpha, “Generation Aspiration” is the new name to know for the young earners of tomorrow.

They’re the children who want to increase their income — even at the ripe old age of seven — think that earning their own money is important and hope to be their own bosses someday.

Coined by GoHenry, a debit card and financial app for young people teaching children how to manage their money, Generation Aspiration are not only the fintech users of the future, but they are already the fintech users of the present.

Seriously, they manage their weekly pocket money on an app and are investing in crypto.

GoHenry’s co-founder and COO, Louise Hill, recently joined AltFi in our latest episode of Money Talks to discuss the topic of ‘Fintech for Good’ alongside Nina Mohanty, founder and CEO of Bloom Money and Tom McGillycuddy, co-founder of CIRCA5000.

All three of our panellists — each incredibly successful founders in the fintech space — agreed that they did not have sufficient, or any, financial education when they were at school.

Even now, how to do your taxes or start investing isn’t a topic that’s taught extensively in schools, despite 75 per cent of young people thinking good money management skills will help them in their future skills.

Luckily, from GoHenry’s youth economy report of more than 450,000 children in the UK, it is clear that not only is the next generation more tech-savvy, but they are shaping up to be far more financially literate.

70 per cent of young people in the UK and the US say that earning their own money is important and around 40 per cent ‘work’ for their pocket money, whether that’s doing household chores or walking the dog.

Increasingly, they are diversifying their sources of income, making money from home rather than getting “traditional” part-time jobs.

A whopping 1.33 million children in the UK (13 per cent) are making money investing in cryptocurrencies. 

They’re also more climate-conscious, with a quarter of children and teens making money selling things on online marketplaces like Vinted, eBay and Depop — Depop alone has more than 30 million registered users in more than 150 countries, and 90 per cent are under the age of 26. 

37 per cent of children aged just eight hope they’ll start their own business in the future, and 21 per cent said being their own boss is a priority for their future career.

Given the tools and the knowledge to be more aware and conscious of their finances and what it means to spend and earn money, a new generation of young earners is being firmly established.

And these earners will expect to be paid equitably.

For the first time since the youth economy report started, the ‘Pocket Money Pay Gap’ — exactly what it sounds like — reversed last year.

In 2018 it was 5 per cent higher for boys, but now it is 4 per cent higher for girls (£8.37 for girls vs £8.03 per week for boys), marking an overall increase of 9 per cent in girls' earnings. 

Meanwhile, the adults are lagging behind.

For adults working full-time, the gender pay gap was 8.3 per cent as of last April.

Parents have reversed the trend for their children — and we know it’s not just because parents are giving their daughters more money without them putting to the work, even if that is just by doing the dishes.

So what does this mean for fintech?

It means that in the not too distant future, Generation Aspiration will have a whole new set of expectations and fintech companies should be prepared for that.

They will be donating to charity and expecting green investment options. 

They will be channelling their entrepreneurial spirit and starting businesses from their bedrooms, becoming their own bosses in jobs that don’t even exist yet. 

They will be the most financially literate generation we’ve seen, and that should be an exciting prospect for fintech.