Ben Affleck has insisted it's important to teach his kids the value of hard work.

The 'Accountant 2' actor recently went viral when he criticised his 13-year-old son Samuel for asking for $6,000 Dior Air Force 1s at a sneaker convention and Ben - who also has Violet, 19, and Seraphina, 16, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner - admitted that, while he wants to give his children "everything", he would be doing them a "disservice" if he gave in to all their requestion.

Speaking on 'Today with Jenna + Friends', Ben said: "He wanted these sneakers, and I was like, 'These sneakers are $6,000, what are you talking about? What are you gonna do, mow lawns? You got $6,000?' He was like, 'We have the money.' I was like, 'I have the money! You're broke.'

Affleck continued, "You love your kids. You want to give them everything and do everything for them, but I think you definitely do them a disservice by not connecting [if] you want something that you want, you have to work for that."

The 52-year-old star confirmed his oldest children are both working, and Samuel has been warned he needs to follow suit if he wants such expensive footwear.

Asked if his children have jobs, Ben said: "Yeah, my oldest two have jobs. In fact, one just got a job, the kind of classic teenager working a shop job -- I won't say what it is. My older one in college is working and trying to get an internship for the summer.

"And yeah, my son, who's 13, he's reckoning with that reality right now. He's looking at no shoes in his closet. Well, he's got shoes, just no crazy expensive fancy shoes.

"And I'm like, 'Well, if you want that, you can work 1,000 hours.' You know what I mean? Minimum wage. And once you work 1,000 hours, you may not want to spend that on a pair of sneakers."

Ben recently admitted he'd finally received some praise from his youngest teenager after he watched 'The Accountant' ahead of the release of its sequel.

He told E! News at the premiere of 'The Accountant 2': "He watched it and was like, 'Dad, I think it might be my favourite movie of yours.' "That was high praise, which doesn't come easy from your kids."

But Samuel still remains "shocked" that his dad knows "cool" people.

Ben said: "My son loves everybody, but he's shocked that I somehow know people he thinks are cool. He's like, 'Why do these people want to hang out with my dad?' Which may be a valuable question, but I'm getting away with it."