Back in my day...

...kids got 25 cents per tooth. Now $3 is the average?!?

Tooth Fairy says times are tough

Posted by: Kara McGuire 

Updated: July 25, 2011 - 8:23 AM

Our Tooth Fairy brings a buck a tooth and a tiny ceramic animal (I know on good authority that the tiny animals were given to the Tooth Fairy when her parents moved out of her childhood home and now they are just sitting in the closet looking to be put to use).

That’s been the routine ever since our daughter lost her first tooth two years ago. I’m assuming the Tooth Fairy will stick with the $1 payout for years to come.

Well, a survey from Visa, Inc. found the average amount of money the Tooth Fairy is leaving declined from an average of $3 per tooth in 2010 to an average of $2.60 per tooth so far this year.

The Midwestern Tooth Fairy used to leave less money than her cohorts on the East Coast and in the South. But as you can see by the findings, that has changed:

• In the Eastern U.S., the Tooth Fairy now leaves just $2.10, a 38 percent drop from the $3.40 she left last year.
• The Southern Tooth Fairy now leaves $2.60, compared to $3.30 in 2010. That's a 21 percent haircut.
• Midwestern children receive an average of $2.80, down 3 percent from 2010.

Those lucky kids living on the West Coast actually saw a 4 percent increase, from $2.70 per tooth in 2010 to $2.80 per tooth so far in 2011.

What are the most common dollar amounts that kids receive?

• 10 percent receive no money from the Tooth Fairy, up from 6 percent last year.
• 7 percent receive less than a dollar.
• 29 percent receive exactly $1, down from 37 percent in 2010's survey.
• 18 percent receive between $2 to $4.
• 18 percent receive $5, a drop from 22 percent last year.

 How much did the tooth fairy leave for you?