Laste ja lastevanemate käsitlused taskurahast: linnade ja väikeasula võrdluses
Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Description
Children’s and parents’ representations of pocket money: comparison of cities and
village.
The thesis studies Estonia as a consumption and information oriented society. This might
seem to be a novel approach, but consumerism studies are increasingly conducted in Estonia
(Keller and Kalmus 2004, Jaaska 2006, Järve 2008, Uibu 2009). The thesis aims to describe
children’s and parents’ attitudes, beliefs and approaches to children’s allowance, identify the
main principles of giving an allowance, and investigate how children spend the money. These
questions are connected to the broader issues of children’s competence and habits as
consumers, and the parent’s role in socialising children as consumers. The discussion of these
issues is based on a comparison of cities and small towns which, in turn, is based on
interviews with 12 families conducted in Tallinn and Tartu. Families included in the study had
at least one 8–9-year-old child. The analysis also includes interviews with 9 families
conducted in the small town of Väike-Maarja by Pajula (2008) during a bachelor’s project.
The structure of the questions and the choice of interviewees was the same in both cases.
The first part of the thesis serves as a frame for the work as a whole and presents theoretical
approaches to the topic. Different approaches to consumer society and, additionally, to the
impact of child rearing on children’s socialisation as consumers are discussed in more detail,
as well as the relationship between such concepts as consumer culture and children. The
coexistence of children and parents within the same consumer culture is discussed. The
section concludes with an overview of allowance related studies in and outside of Estonia.
The findings of the current study cannot be generalised to all children of that age and their
parents in Estonian small towns and cities but some general tendencies do emerge.
The study revealed that the location of small cities and towns is a significant factor. There is a
clear division in people’s shopping habits into routine shopping (close to home and on a daily
basis) and shopping done in cities (where children hope to get new things). However, if
people live close to a shopping centre, the centre itself acquires two meanings. It becomes the
place of routine shopping but, also, the place where families spend time together (they go out
to eat or to shop and, at the same time, children can spend time in the play area).
Next to location, time is also a relevant factor. In this case, one can distinguish between
workdays and the weekends. In a small town, people usually do their routine shopping locally
on workdays. However, at the weekends, they drive to a city to shop there and this becomes a
special event. In cities, shopping centres are where routine shopping is done but at the
weekends shopping centres fulfil a function related to entertainment.
The interviews with parents living in Tallinn revealed that they do not allow their children to
be alone in the city very much. The family usually goes to work or school together in the
morning and comes home together as well. This means that children make most of their
independent purchases from the school cafeteria. In contrast, parents in Tartu and in small
towns are of the opinion that second graders are already independent individuals and,
therefore, can have a certain amount of their own money and are allowed, now and then, to go
to the store and buy something for themselves or for the family.
The allowance system is indicative of the parents’ attitude towards children and their overall
approach to child rearing. For example, there might be a system by which allowance is given
on pedagogical basis (on a daily, weekly or monthly basis), or chaotically when the child asks
for money. The study surprisingly revealed that all the participating children received an
allowance. The only difference was in the basis of which the allowance was given. Most
allowance systems were represented, including weekly and daily allowances next to money
received on demand. Tartu families have a more pedagogical approach to money, they have
an certain amount of money that a child receives over a certain period of time. Five out of six
parents thought it best to give money (about 25–30 Estonian kroons) on a weekly basis.
Tallinn families, however, have not generally established a specific allowance system.
Instead, parents assume that children will ask for money when they need it. In Väike-Maarja,
children ask their parents for money when they need it or when they want to buy something,
there is no specific allowance as a rule. It was found that the parents’ income and approach to
child rearing were significant factors in choosing the allowance system.
Next to money received from parents, children’s allowance also includes money received as a
gift. It is popular nowadays that children are given money. Interviews conducted in small
towns show that it has become customary for children to give money as a gift to one another.
They also expect their parents and relatives to give them money instead of gifts. Families in
Tartu and Tallinn also noted that giving gift certificates is more and more common.
Keywords
magistritööd