Parents in Shanghai discuss spending red envelope cash

A lot of children received thousands of yuan in red envelopes, known as Hongbao, over the Spring Festival. The practice has also spread to many expat families in Shanghai. ICS Reporter Zhang Ningben talked to local and expat families to find out how their children will deal with the money.

Like many teenagers, Chen Anran received thousands of yuan in cash from relatives during the Spring Festival. But her father will only allow her to spend a small amount of the money.

"My father gave me about 200 yuan from the lucky money. And I will use it to buy books and stationery. If there is still some left, I will give it back to my father for saving." Chen said.

Chen's father says he will put most of the money into a bank account he opened for his daughter. He says children should have some say in how their money is spent, but parents should always keep an eye on them.

"Nowadays, children's "Hongbaos" are getting bigger and bigger. If kids have too much money, they might use it as a comparison at schools. That's bad for their development. My daughter is now 15, but I think she's still too young to deal with money in the proper way." Chen's father said.

Many Chinese parents handle cash gifts the same way. But some foreing parents are willing to let their children have more say in how their money is spent.

Americans David and Desiree Talbert say their two kids, a three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter, received 1,200 yuan from their Chinese friends during the holiday. Their mother says when they got the money, she wanted to use it to teach budgeting, especially for their older child,Chloe.

"So we actually went to the store. And I told her that they could spend a certain amount of money, but they couldn't, they have to find the gift or toy that was only that much money. So we had to search all over the store for the right amount." American expat Desiree Talbert said.

One local social science professor says Chinese and western parents tend to have different ideas on how to teach their kids about money.

"The western families want their children to learn how to make a living by themselves as early as possible. So budgeting and making better use of money are part of their family education. While most Chinese parents would like to make financial arrangements for their children, and are very unlikely to let them handle most of the "Hongbao" money." Professor Yu Hai from Shanghai Fudan University said.

Many foreign parents say they guide their children on how to deal with money, much like many Chinese parents. But they also allow children to make mistakes while Chinese parents tend to stop their children from wasting money in the first place.