How much to give a 17 year old?

arlybarly

tightrs wrote: »

i believe either all should get EMA or no one. why should parents feel obliged to give kids money to keep up with their mates who get EMA and sit on their backsides instead of getting part time work.
the ones i know on £30 a week have no intention of getting jobs

Hiya dont even get me started on EMA and who gets what, because both me an oh work my ds misses out and i will have to make up the shortfall. The workers are penalised yet again.

bestpud

Forgot to add my dd pays for her own driving lessons out of EMA/wages too.

And she bought her own provisional license...

BitterAndTwisted

That's much better than spending it all on cheap cider on a Friday night which is what I figured a lot of those wedged-up 17 year-olds would be up to

bestpud

arlybarly wrote: »

Hiya dont even get me started on EMA and who gets what, because both me an oh work my ds misses out and i will have to make up the shortfall. The workers are penalised yet again.

Erm, can I let you onto a secret?

It is not because you both work; it is because your income is over £30k per year.

DD received full EMA when me and my ex were both working.

Moan about it if you like (lots do) but at least get your facts straight first! :rolleyes:

bestpud

tightrs wrote: »

i believe either all should get EMA or no one. why should parents feel obliged to give kids money to keep up with their mates who get EMA and sit on their backsides instead of getting part time work.
the ones i know on £30 a week have no intention of getting jobs

Well, you don't know the ones I know then!

the_rottweiler

Ds1 is 16 and starts college next monday. He will get ema, and free bus travel to college.
He has had a p/t job for the past 18 months and has bought everything he needs with his wages, he made the decision then told me

At this stage, he has made his own choices about leaving school, and which course to study, so can do his own laundry and ironing (and he does, without complaint)

Its all about independance, and he realises that if he wants the good parts of independance he has the bad parts too.

I am very proud of him

BitterAndTwisted

You should be, it's obviously your great parenting that's done it

silvercar

When my son started 6th form, he thought it unfair that some of his friends were getting £30 a week EMA while he had to rely on his allowance (much less!).

After a term he told me he never realised how much the students on high EMA had to pay themselves for things that he took for granted as coming from home/ family.

Lunar_Eclipse

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Am I alone in thinking that £30 a week pocket-money/EMA is rather a lot of disposable income?

I think it depends on what it is for.

£30 pocket money sounds a lot to me.

But a weekly £30 allowance to cover all living expenses (clothing, footwear, toiletries, social activities, phones, lunches) doesn't seem too much (especially when I bet it is only paid during term time!)

sunnyflower

I still can't get head around the fact that my daughter has to work 3 weekends out of 4 (and overtime if available) whilst studyinging for A levels, whilst some of her mates are sitting on their backsides, using EMA for driving lessons, socialising etc.
How can my daughter, and others in her position, understand and learn a work ethic in a society where you get rewarded for doing nowt!
When I read the recent information manual from 6th form, it said that students aren't encouraged to work because it can interfere with thier studies; fine if they are lucky enough to have parents to give them a generous allowance, or can sit back and wait for handouts, but millions of families like mine aren't in that fortunate position.
Some single mothers may have a low wage, but their bills mortgage etc are paid by their absent husband; this doesn't get counted in the EMA calculations though does it???
It makes me cross that my husband and I are penalised for having a functional family and work for a living!