Tooth fairy is hit by inflation as average cost of a kid’s discarded teeth rockets to $6.23 – up nearly $1 since last year
- The average amount left by the tooth fairy in an American home is $6.23
- The South was found to be the most generous with an average donation of $6.59
- When the survey began 25 years ago in 1998 the value of a lost tooth was $1.30
Children set to lose baby teeth this year should count themselves lucky as it appears the tooth fairy is paying out more than ever before.
The average amount of cash left by the tooth fairy across America is $6.23, compared with $5.36 last year, according to Delta Dental’s annual tooth fairy poll.
Over the past 25 years the dental insurance provider has tracked the average size of a tooth fairy delivery, which has generally followed the S&P 500 index.
This year was an outlier – in the 12 months prior to January the S&P dropped by nearly 13 percent, as the average lost tooth value rose by 16 percent.
The average amount of money left by parents has increased fairly steadily over the last two and a half decades in approximate correlation to the S&P 500. This year was exceptional in that the S&P dropped by nearly 13 percent, as the average lost tooth value rose by 16 percent
The average tooth value was estimated using a survey of more than 1,000 parents of children aged between 6 and 12 from around the US, according to Delta Dental
Similar trends did however emerge after the financial crisis of 2007-2008 during which the S&P, and wider US economy, suffered, but parents maintained their generosity.
Similarly in 2022 American families dealt with high inflation and a generally higher cost of living as the price of gas and other consumer items rose.
Last month the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation jumped unexpectedly in a troubling sign for consumers that sent Wall Street’s major stock indexes to their worst weekly losses so far this year.
The average tooth value was estimated using a survey of more than 1,000 parents of children aged between 6 and 12 from around the US, according to Delta Dental.
This year’s survey was carried out between January 6 and January 19 and found that the amount left by parents across the country varied on a regional basis.
In the South an average donation of $6.59 was recorded, the highest in the country and up 14 percent on last year.
Second was the West which increased the most, 53 percent on last year, to $6.25.
Dropping below the national average to $6.14 after leading last year with $7.36 per tooth is the Northeast.
The personal consumption expenditures price index rose at a 5.4 percent annual rate in January, up from 5.3 percent rate seen the prior month, in a troubling sign for inflation
Although the Midwest was the least generous, donations were up 32 percent from last year to $5.63.
This year there was a much narrower regional range of just 96 cents whereas last year the range between the Northeast and the West was $3.08.
Since the first poll in 1998, the average cash gift left by the tooth fairy has risen 379 percent from $1.30 to $6.23 per tooth.