Newsletter Question: When do you start giving a child an allowance?
From our newsletter comes the following question:
I’ve read a few articles on money and children lately and it got me wondering about the role of allowances in teaching kids to be savvy and responsible financial managers. In addition to the title question, I am curious about the successes and failures (and any related amusing stories or anecdotes) that you have had with giving allowances and your criteria for what it takes to earn the allowance – is there a ‘going rate’ these days and is the amount of “work” required to earn that wage consistent among parents?
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2 Responses to “Newsletter Question: When do you start giving a child an allowance?”
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April 4th, 2007 at 5:20 am
My husband and I don’t plan to give our kids allowances; although, that may change, depending on the situation. My sister and her husband hadn’t planned to give their kids allowances either, but the girls do so many craft projects that they caould easily go through an entire roll of tape a day, iff allowed. SO… my sister started a “tape allowance” the girls get a little money each week for buying tape, and their tape and the household tape are kept in different places. It has taught the girls to be more judicious in how/when they use tape in their projects, so they don’t waste as much (and they have become very creative in finding other ways to attach things together).
My issue with an allowance for chores stems from the response of a childhood friend of mine when asked by his father to help out when his uncle was moving. “How much will you pay me?” At 12, I thought this was absurd, and he should help just because he’s friendly, kind, family, etc. I feel that as part of the family, my kids can participate in ALL family activities, whether it’s camping together or doing dishes after dinner. It’s part of having the household run smoothly. (I’ve never seen a child pay his parents for making dinner….*grin*)
April 4th, 2007 at 6:12 am
I agree, a child should contribute to the family because she/he is part of the family, not because of payment. However, we do have to teach fiscal responsibility so they will be ready for the world. So my oldest daughter gets $5.00 a week. Not for doing chores, but for learning money management. We expect that she save $1.00, give $1.00 to church/charity, and spend $3.00 on what she wants to buy. This is nice when she wants me to buy her stuff at Target and I ask her to use her allowance. She usually decides to keep her money!