More young children than ever have mobile phones

By Jennifer Hill

LONDON (Reuters) - Mobile phone ownership among British children of primary-school age has soared to almost 60 percent in the past year, new data shows.

Some 57 percent of seven to 11 year olds now have a mobile phone, compared to just 43 percent 12 months ago, according to figures from Halifax.

The increasing number of younger children with a mobile phone has pushed the overall ownership figure for children aged seven to 16 to 77 percent -- up from 68 percent in 2005.

Mobile phone ownership among older children -- those aged 12 to 16 -- has remained static at 94 percent in the past 12 months.

On a regional basis, children in London are the biggest mobile phone owners -- 97 percent have one, against just 56 percent of those in the West Midlands.

There has also been an increase in the number of parents paying for their offspring's mobile phone usage.

Just 40 percent of children say they are responsible for paying their own bills, compared to 47 percent last year.

And more parents are also giving their children extra money to spend on their mobiles.

A quarter of children said their parents gave them extra money to meet the costs of the phone, up from 16 percent in 2005.

The length of time children spend on their mobile has changed little in the past year, according to the figures.

Three-quarters spend up to five hours a week on their mobile and almost half spend up to two hours.

Pay-as-you-go phones remain the most prevalent, accounting for 79 percent of handsets.

The findings are part of Halifax's annual pocket money survey, for which almost 1,200 children aged seven to 16 were surveyed.