Platforming pocket money: family finance apps and the datafication of child economies

Abstract

Family finance apps are digital platforms that offer possibilities for reshaping children’s consumer socialization and economic agency. These finance apps incorporate functions for both parents and children through the setting and tracking of chores, the payment of allowances or pocket money, as well as the monitoring and management of children’s saving and spending. With these apps, children’s economic experiences and participation are increasingly platformed and datafied. That is, guided by functionality for data tracking and analysis. This paper offers a study of the datafication dimensions of these apps as a basis for further research in the emerging area of children’s fintech. The paper..