A study of 1,000 mums and dads of six to 16-year-olds who watch such content online found 17 per cent of kids have transferred cash to influencers and content creators on streaming platforms.
Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of those who do this, spend money in this way on a daily basis, and 31 per cent do so every week.
Worryingly, 11 per cent of parents have discovered their little ones have given money to streamers – without them knowing.
And a third of parents want restrictions on how much money their kids can donate to streamers online.
While 57 per cent of parents didn’t know kids can donate funds to content creators and streamers.
Dana Haidan, chief sustainability officer at Virgin Media O2, which commissioned the study ahead of Safer Internet Day which takes place today [Tuesday February 7] , said: “With children spending increasing amounts of time online, it’s incredibly important to be aware of what they might be doing.
“A hugely popular and fun industry in content creation and streaming has emerged in recent years and for many parents, this could be completely alien to them.
“It’s not general knowledge to those who don’t watch streamers that it’s possible to donate money to them, whether as a thank you for their entertainment or in order to access ‘VIP content’.”
Online consent is important
The study also found just 16 per cent of kids polled admitted they ask for their parent’s permission ‘every time’ they give money to streamers.
Reasons for not always getting their blessing included knowing they’d say no (18 per cent) and because their bank details were stored online so they assumed it would be fine (16 per cent).
The research also explored why children as young as six or seven are keen to donate money to streamers.
These include wanting to give something back to
