A new report commissioned by The Royal Bank of Scotland reveals that while annual earnings for teenagers in Great Britain have hit £4.5 billion, the vast majority do not contribute anything to the household.

According to those surveyed, they said that on average their parents probably spent about £100 per month on them in respect of clothes, and school or college expenses.

In comparison, the actual parental spend figure was, on average, £215. Despite these figures, 74% didn't believe they should be contributing anything at all for their keep.

In fact, 57% of teenagers confessed to having no idea what their parents pay out in a week for food alone, and while nearly 60% knew exactly how much a CD costs, only 29% knew the cost of a loaf of bread.

With teenagers' average part-time earnings for Saturday jobs, household chores, baby sitting and paper rounds running at, on average, £375 million per month, it also emerged that nearly 6 in 10 (59%) of those asked said they still need to ask for an advance from their parents or employer.

Commenting on the findings on the first anniversary of the Bank's financial education programme for schools, Ewen Munro, Managing Director, Retail Banking, The Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "Young people now have a significant amount of disposable income, and it is only right that they should be able to enjoy their earnings. That said, it is never too early to learn about the importance of managing your finances. Learning good financial habits at an early age, such as saving and budgeting, will pay off when it comes to starting full time work, or going on to university or college."

"We developed the Face 2 Face With Finance programme to try and ensure that young people are equipped with the knowledge and skills to enable them to make the right financial decisions in future years, whatever career path they choose to take. With over 30,000 young people having taken part in the programme since the launch, it is pleasing to know that future generations will be well placed to deal with whatever financial challenges life might throw at them."

While 19% of those surveyed said they did not receive any pocket money or allowance and 46% said they didn't have any income from part time work, such as baby sitting or Saturday work, over a third of those who did earn something said they would spend it rather than save it. Only 8% said they were dedicated savers.

Among the most popular areas where young people spent their cash, buying clothes came top with 63% of those asked spending £74 million per month. Second most popular destination for their cash was socialising with friends, with a whopping £61 million being spent.