OK I'll admit that Jonathon told me that the tooth fairy is gender neutral but I don't believe that. In my mind the tooth fairy is female which is why I wrote the headline as such. Anyways on to the news.
According The Original Tooth Fairy Poll conducted by Delta Dental, the Tooth Fairy has been paying out 43 cents less this year then last, with kids getting an average of $3.70 per tooth.
But not all parents are being that frugal. In fact, 37% of parents say their kids get at least $5 or more for a lost tooth, with the first lost tooth getting about $4.96, $1.26 above the average.
So, how do Tooth Fairies, a.k.a mom and dad, determine how much money they are going to give for a lost tooth? Well, according to the poll the most common deciding factor is how much money they have on hand at the time (46%).Other deciding factors include:
- Their child’s age (31%)
- Payouts that are comparable to what children’s parents received when they were young (29%)
- Their kid’s behavior (20%)
- How many teeth the child has already lost (18%)