New Pocket Money Petz website from The Children’s Mutual

According to new research from The Children’s Mutual, the old saying that good manners cost nothing is not strictly true, as 44% of children are now financially rewarded for good behaviour.

Award winning Child Trust Fund Provider, The Children’s Mutual, has revealed that as well as good behaviour, parents are also offering an ‘honest wage’ for a hard day’s work. 37% of children ‘earn’ their pocket money by helping out with chores around the home and 19% fill their piggy banks by helping out with the family pet.

As the Government announces plans to make financial education compulsory for children as young as five from 2012, leading Child Trust Fund provider The Children’s Mutual has launched a new Pocket Money Petz microsite which has been created to help parents teach their children about pocket money and saving.

Children can choose a ‘virtual’ pet, from a dog to a dinosaur, to help them learn to boost, manage and save their pocket money earnings, and while children have fun deciding which character to accompany them through PocketMoneyPetz, their parents can put a value against each chore to help them learn the value of money.

Tony Anderson, Marketing Director at The Children’s Mutual, said: “As children are receiving more and more pocket money in return for undertaking household chores, helping with the family pet and their good behaviour, we created Pocket Money Petz to help spark their imaginations about earning and saving money.”

According to The Children’s Mutual research, the going rate for pocket money has increased by a whopping 83% in a single generation from when their parents received pocket money until today. Parents are already giving an average of £2.85 a week to their child, with many (27%) parents expecting to increase this amount by £1 each year.

However, despite the rise in pocket money, The Children’s Mutual research showed that parents are often unsure of how much to ‘pay’ their children and can feel pressurised to compete with how much other parents give. Nearly one in five (18%) said there was pressure to conform to a ‘market rate’ and 16% said they feel they pay too much but ‘have to go with what everyone gets’. In response to these concerns, The Children’s Mutual has also created a Parents’ Pocket Money Guide which offers advice on teaching children about money, how to give pocket money, when to start and how much to give and how often.

Children also have their own user-friendly Pocket Money Guide which helps them to understand where money comes from, how to budget, keeping money safe, and ways of saving for the items they want. The colourful guide also comes with ready reckoners and games to help children become more familiar and used to dealing with money.

Bill Bailey shows the not-so-funny-side of drinking

This is the fourth film in this series to raise awareness about alcohol drinking with teenagers.

This ‘Behind the Scenes’ video shows the shooting of Comedian Bill Bailey’s film for the “Alcohol. It’s No Joke” campaign. Bill Bailey’s film talks about growing up and attitudes shared by friends and family, It talks about how drunken behavior can lead to out of character actions and on some occasions, accidents.

Also check out what Jo Brand has to say on this at http://kidszine.co.uk/2010/01/jo-brand-talks-about-perils-of-teenage-drinking/

Jo Brand talks about perils of teenage drinking

We are pleased to be able to publicise this video from Jo Brand on behalf of the Alcohol It’s No Joke campaign.

It’s all too easy to laugh off the effects of alcohol and forget that drink can put young people in vulnerable situations. It’s no joke. Recognising that alcohol is a serious issue and talking about the good and the bad sides can help young people stay safe, confident and responsible as they grow as teenagers.

In this clip, Jo Brand to talk about her experiences of alcohol as a teenager. Jo talks about how she experienced the consequences of alcohol firsthand and in her job as a psychiatric nurse. As a mother to two young girls, she explains how she aims to talk to them about alcohol as early as possible.

The aim of this film is to show that alcohol can make young people vulnerable. Although parents worry about unprotected sex, drugs and crime, drinking alcohol is often not top of the list. Alcohol can be the thing which leaves young people vulnerable and in situations they might not know how to deal with.

This film is the one of a series featuring other comedians including Bill Bailey, Russell Kane and Josie Long and is part of the build-up to a big campaign launch in mid-January.

More infoamtion at www.itsnojoke.tv

Survey shows talented parents are leaving the world of employment

A new survey for Family Friendly Working shows that talented parents are leaving the world of employment.

Britain’s bosses are missing out on skilled employees due to a combination of the lack of flexible hours and the cost of childcare. And the parents who are leaving are continuing to develop their skills too both with the family, by retraining, and in their own businesses.

Unsurprisingly the top talents developed by parents are Multitasking (68.4%) and Time Management (65.3%). But more than half (55.3%) of the parents who responded to the survey have developed Promotion and Marketing Skills and almost as many (45.3%) have developed better Communication Skills.

Mums and Dads are getting better at managing money too, with nearly 4 in 10 (39.2%) saying that they have developed their Financial Management Skills after leaving work. A similar number (37.6%) have improved Project Planning Skills since quitting employment.

Parents’ people skills are getting a great workout too. Three in 10 (30.7%) parents claim to have developed better Conflict Management Skills, and one in five (20%) have better Team Management Skills since leaving employment.

Director of Family Friendly Working Antonia Chitty says, “I know that I’ve developed my skills since I left employment and it looks like I’m not alone. Britain’s’ bosses need to think hard about offering more flexible work opportunities in order to make the most of talented parents.”

Parents completing the survey have commented on their post-employment experiences:

“I have learnt a lot since then! More importantly I have learnt a lot about myself, maintaining a positive mental attitude, social networking, enterprise and more.”

“I ended up returning to education and finally getting the degree I always wanted.”

“Starting my business has meant my time management has to be good so that my children get the best of me and I still have time to put into work.”

“In 2006 I published my first book, with a five month old baby and two older kids. Truly a new start for me.”

“I retrained as reflexologist so had a complete career change. I had to learn about running my own business and marketing myself.”

Website:  www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk

Do Old Wives Tale family health cures work - Dr Sarah Brewer TV Show

Will chicken soup solve your family’s sniffles? Should you feed a cold and starve a fever? And is it possible to become immune to painkillers if you take them regularly? Find out by watching this live WebTV show with GP, mum and author of numerous health books, Dr Sarah Brewer.

Research has shown that half of women believe in family health advice passed down through the generations, despite the fact this may have little or no medical basis. In fact, outdated health myths picked up from our mothers and grandmothers could prove futile or, at worst, even dangerous for our family’s health. For instance, one in five women uses butter to treat burns despite strong medical advice against this.

With the cold and flu season now upon us, this WebTV show is your chance to share your inherited family remedies and find out from a medical professional if they actually work. Dr Sarah Brewer will help us separate health fact from fiction, as part of Panadol Advance’s Health Hearsay campaign - a medical myth-busting drive by mums, for mums.

Joining Dr Brewer will be busy mum-of-two, Fiona Joyce, from Panadol’s Mums Panel, which has been uncovering the nation’s popular ‘health hearsay’ and working with medical professionals to bust common medical myths. Fiona will be sharing some of the most popular (and bizarre) health remedies put forward by mums from the Mums Panel at Panadol’s last Health Hearsay focus group.

Dr Sarah Brewer and Fiona Joyce join us live online on Friday 27th November 2009 at 1300 to sort medical fact from fiction in family medicine.

Use the box below to submit your questions beforehand. If you have missed the broadcast, you will be able to watch anytime after by viewing below.

For more information visit www.mypainrelief.com

Live Web TV Show about protecting your children online

Do you know what your kids get up to on the internet?

Log onto our live WebTV show for top tips on protecting your children online.

Chat date: Friday 20th November

Chat time: 14:30 to 15:00

[If you miss the show, it will be subsequently available as a webcast]

As parents we’re becoming more aware that dangers to our kids don’t just lie on our streets - the internet and online world can also pose a number of serious risks. Yet despite this, millions of us still lack the basic knowledge to safely and effectively monitor our children’s internet usage.

Did you know that a child can’t legally use a social networking site until they are 13 years old? Perhaps not. And how often do you think to check which sites your child has been visiting? Many of us might not know that it’s possible for children to hide any dubious internet activity by simply deleting their browser history!

According to research by Talk Talk, many parents are still letting their child loose on the internet without having any filtering software on their family computer.

While we might never know what our kids get up to online, it’s important for them to be able to surf the internet safely. In our live and interactive Web TV show renowned child psychologist Professor Tanya Byron will be giving you some top advice on protecting your child online. You can submit your questions ahead of the show or ask them live when it premieres on Friday 20th November.