Money Moral Dilemma: Should we increase our son's pocket money?

My own daughter and me had a chat we she started her GCSE's. I told her if she wanted to get a part time job then fine, but I'd bankroll her if she would prefer to study. She chose study over work and I was in total agreement. She just smashed her A levels and is now at University.

Part time jobs will affect study. You need to decide what's more important at this stage of their life.

In the same way that your son is pointing out that he is not receiving as much pocket money as his friends, maybe you could point out that there may be many reasons for that. For example, the income of each household may vary considerably or perhaps his friends pocket money equates to help given to parents. In this situation I would take a close look at the weekly amount given and discuss with him ways that this amount could possibly be increased. Maybe extra jobs in the home or by taking a step into the world to secure employment. Money doesn't grow on trees and that's a lesson he has yet to learn.

Hi,
As a teacher I thought I'd add my twopenn'oth (I don't think I've spelt that right). I think the answer depends on what your child is like & how they are doing at school.
The first thing I'd do is check what pocket money their friends are actually getting- as you already know, children are great at telling stories to their own advantage.
Then, if your child is motivated at school & there are no behaviour or progress issues, I would echo the advice already given that working for money is great experience, whether that is chores at home or elsewhere. Any work experience outside the home is valuable when applying for jobs & indeed university.
If there are problems at school then I would say these need tackling first. If you're not sure how your child is doing, ring the school, ask to talk to their form tutor or head of year, or if it is a particular subject ask to speak to the subject teacher. You may need to go in for a meeting.
In my school poor behaviour, failure to complete class work or homework results in behaviour points, & good behaviour or doing what is expected is rewarded with achievement points. You could link a rise in pocket money to a reduction in behaviour points or an improvement in grades or number of achievement points. You will only find this out every half term, so I would operate on a bonus system. Extra pocket money then coincides with extra leisure time.
Of course you will know best what will motivate your kid.
I would like to underline the fact that you are asked to declare your GCSE results on (pretty much) every job application you ever make, & that employers are looking for a minimum of 5 GCSEs at A-C ( including maths & English) or 5-9 if you are taking the new GCSEs (grade 4 may be acceptable - we just don't know yet).

Understand the revising for exams issue and the difficulty of an under 16 getting a job. Get him to do some housework and pay him for that - hoovering, washing up, ironing, making beds and tidying rooms - all things that will stand him in good stead later in life.
That is not going to compromise his exams and later on her will thank you - but probably not now!