Is £1 from the tooth fairy tight?

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Our note

On 21 October, the Office for National Statistics reported annual UK inflation of 3.5% for September, up from 3.1% in August. For a tooth fairy gift, I found several different survey answers.

In a 2017 YouGov poll, the average answer to what the fairy should pay was 88p. The most common answer was £1, chosen by 41%; 22% chose 50p. Another 2017 survey, of 973 people who had played the tooth fairy, reported by the Lancashire Evening Post, found an average paid of £1.49. In that survey, too, £1 was the most common amount. The two surveys asked different questions: one about what should be paid, the other about what people had left.

A 2025 MoneySupermarket survey of parents of 9 to 13-year-olds put the typical amount at 51p to £1, though it found much higher amounts in Greater London and Scotland. Across the surveys, £1 appears as a common choice, while the averages and regional amounts vary.

What's a fair amount? The tooth fairy: what published surveys found and what readers said at other amounts.