‘Tooth Fairy’ Gave $3 Per Tooth on Average This Year - East Idaho News
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‘Tooth Fairy’ Gave $3 Per Tooth on Average This Year

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GETTY B 090412 ToothFairy?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1346770277388iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The “tooth fairy” gave $3 per tooth on average to children this year, up 15 percent from last year, according to a survey by credit card company Visa.

Visa also released a free app and online tool, the Tooth Fairy Calculator, that determines how much children in comparable households are receiving from the Tooth Fairy, based on demographics like age, gender, home state, income and education levels.

The calculator was released as part of Visa’s free financial education program, Practical Money Skills for Life.

It’s unclear how exactly Visa is coming up with its guidance and if kids who live in more expensive areas should get more money from the tooth fairy.

Plugging in a male parent’s age of 33 with a college education and making $75,000 yields a $2 gift from the tooth fairy. Change the parent’s gender to female and the kid gets lucky with a $2 gift from the tooth fairy.  Then change the state of residence to New York and you get a less-valuable tooth for a gift of $1.

The survey was conducted from July 13 to 17 through 2,000 telephone interviews in cooperation with GfK Roper’s Omnibus Service “OmnitTel.”

Here’s how much the tooth fairy gave all the other kids, including those lucky ones who found Abraham Lincoln under their pillows:

  • Less than a dollar: 3 percent of those surveyed, down from 7 percent last year.
  • Exactly $1: 30 percent, up from 29 percent last year.
  • Between $2 to $4: 13 percent, down from 18 percent last year.
  • Exactly $5: 18 percent, same as last year.
  • More than $5: 8 percent, up from 3 percent last year.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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