The Newest Family CFO? Gen Alpha

DKC reports that nearly half of household spending is now influenced by Gen Alpha. That influence shows up in everyday decisions—from where families eat to how much they spend on video games or lessons tied to children's passions.

"The big expenditures are tutors, coaches, and then travel experiences, eating out, Ubers," Wiese said of his family. He added that he sees many children grow up with little sense of what things actually cost, calling it one of the biggest failures in how families teach children about money today.

Amid economic uncertainty, Gen Alpha's ability to influence spending is a powerful tool. According to Fast Company, 69% of parents say they learn about brands from their Gen Alpha children, and 71% have changed a purchasing decision as a result.

The same study also reports that 95% of Gen Alpha children are earning money in some form, with average earnings of $52 per week, up from $45 per week just two years ago. That's $2,704 per year, which is a significant sum for children that age. Many (57%) earn money through babysitting, lawn care, or other jobs, while a smaller share (14%) earns money by selling items online.

For example, one of Wiese's sons has built a growing following on TikTok as an influencer and has earned a substantial income since he began posting videos. Through views, sponsorships, and brand partnerships, his son—now 16 years old—has saved more than five figures, which has reshaped how he and his family think and talk about spending.

As children gain more direct access to money, they're also becoming more discerning about the value of purchases. They're especially wary of wasting money on something that won't feel worth it.

Last year, Dr. Marcus Carter, a human-computer interaction researcher and Future Fellow at the University of Sydney, worked with his colleagues on a Gen Alpha spending behavior study. It found that when given a debit card with a small balance, the majority of children spent the money on digital items, such as Roblox purchases that help them level up faster or progress further in the game. But Dr. Carter and his colleagues also found that the children thought carefully about how they were spending the money:

"What platforms like Roblox reveal about how this generation consumes is striking: These kids are not naive or impulsive. The children in our research were sophisticated, strategic spenders who assessed value, compared pricing tiers, tracked conversion rates between virtual currencies and real money, and would 'grind' for hours to avoid paying for items they felt were overpriced."

Each child explained their spending choices in real time while Dr. Carter and his fellow researchers observed: "Children's primary experience of harm was not about spending too much; it was about being misled." As young people encounter more opportunities to spend, earn, and even speculate, questions about what to trust—and whom to trust—are surfacing earlier than ever.

As that challenge grows, organizations like Charles Schwab Foundation are placing greater emphasis on expanding access to high-quality investing education for students nationwide.

Children in the study used words like "scammed," "tricked," and "lying" to describe misrepresented in-game purchases, especially when multiple layers of virtual currencies made understanding the real-world cost challenging. 

These moments—when children feel confused, misled, or burned—are ripe opportunities for parents to teach their children about the trade-offs behind certain purchases, how value gets obscured, and how money might be better spent.

In Dr. Carter's study, parents were involved in the decisions to varying degrees, but what was most striking wasn't how closely they monitored spending, but how uneasy they were with the idea of buying digital items in the first place.

"A significant number approached their child's in-game spending with a baffled skepticism about the items themselves, struggling to understand why their child would spend real money on a virtual hat or a cosmetic skin," Dr. Carter said.

As important as it is for parents to educate their children about making financial decisions, parents may also need to learn from children if they want those lessons to have an impact. That includes understanding spending in the digital landscape and being aware of what kinds of purchases this generation is drawn to.

"A parent who does not really believe a digital item has genuine value is not well-positioned to help their child think critically about whether a particular item represents good value," Dr. Carter explained. "If more parents had been able to meet their children on that ground, treating in-game purchases with the same seriousness they would apply to any other discretionary spend, I think we would have seen children better equipped to identify when they were being misled rather than simply being told that digital spending is inherently wasteful."

Rather than lecturing, parents can approach these conversations with curiosity and understanding—an approach that can make teachable money moments more impactful. Wiese recommends working with children on saving, investing, and financial decisions to help them better understand their choices.

This is also a better approach than just making decisions for them. "I think the more that you can get them involved in the process, the more they take ownership of it," Wiese said. "If you're constantly doing everything for them, it's not as real. There's really something to be said about figuring out how hard it is to make $100 in the real world."

Wiese aims to let his social media influencer son take the lead on some financial decisions, whether that's negotiating brand deals or posting a certain amount of content to maximize profitability. The idea is to let Gen Alpha step into the role of decision-maker.

"In trying to provide the best life for our kids, sometimes we do them a disservice by not letting them fail," Wiese said. "I'm there for support, but it's been so much deeper and richer for my son to make financial decisions himself, and I see that this will have benefits for him later in life when he's involved in another business."