'How much pocket money do you give to your kids?' poll discussion

Former_MSE_Lawrence

Poll Closed 22 March 2010 - Thanks for voting!

RESULTS

How much pocket money do you give your kids?

Please select the answer that’s closest to your view, depending on your kids' age and how you operate pocket money.

How much weekly pocket money do your kids get on average?
(if you’ve kids in both age brackets please just vote for one of them)

0. I’ve got no kids
26% (2907 votes) 01. My kids are over 18
4% (486 votes) 02. Kids 0-12: They don’t get it regularly
14% (1537 votes) 03. Kids 0-12: It completely depends on the chores they do
3% (384 votes) 04. Kids 0-12: 0p - 25p
2% (192 votes) 05. Kids 0-12: 26p - 75p
1% (106 votes) 06. Kids 0-12: 76p - £1.50
5% (521 votes) 07. Kids 0-12: £1.51 - £2.50
6% (635 votes) 08. Kids 0-12: £2.51 - £4.50
4% (396 votes) 09. Kids 0-12: £4.51 - £7.50
4% (458 votes) 10. Kids 0-12: £7.50 - £12.50
1% (121 votes) 11. Kids 0-12: £12.50+
1% (65 votes) 12. Kids 12-18: They don’t get it regularly
3% (378 votes) 13. Kids 12-18: It completely depends on the chores they do.
2% (203 votes) 14. Kids 12-18: They have a job and get money from that
1% (124 votes) 15. Kids 12-18: (don’t buy own clothes): 51p - £1.50
0% (33 votes) 16. Kids 12-18 (don’t buy own clothes): £1.51 - £2.50
1% (127 votes) 17. Kids 12-18 (don’t buy own clothes): £2.51 - £4.50
2% (228 votes) 18. Kids 12-18 (don’t buy own clothes): £4.51 - £7.50
7% (771 votes) 19. Kids 12-18(don’t buy own clothes): £7.51 - £12.50
5% (500 votes) 20. Kids 12-18 (don’t buy own clothes): £12.51 - £22.50
2% (221 votes) 21. Kids 12-18 (don’t buy own clothes): £22.50+
1% (120 votes) 22. Kids 12-18(must buy clothes): 0p - £1.50
0% (13 votes) 23. Kids 12-18 (must buy clothes): £1.51 - £2.50
0% (5 votes) 24. Kids 12-18 (must buy clothes): £2.51 - £4.50
0% (8 votes) 25. Kids 12-18 (must buy clothes): £4.51 - £7.50
1% (68 votes) 26. Kids 12-18 (must buy clothes): £7.51 - £12.50
1% (119 votes) 27. Kids 12-18 (must buy clothes): £12.51 - £22.50
1% (102 votes) 28. Kids 12-18 (must buy clothes): £22.50 - £35
1% (57 votes) 29. Kids 12-18 (must buy clothes): £35+
1% (113 votes)

Total Votes: 10998

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minerva_windsong

No kids myself, but as a child I got the following (based on chores):

Aged 6-7: £1 a week
Aged 8-9: £2 a week
Aged 10-11: £3 a week
Aged 12-13: £5 a week
Aged 14-15: £10 a week (paid monthly)

The amounts went up based on the amount and number of chores I did as I got older and was able to do more.

I got a part time job when I was 16 and then I was 'off the payroll' until I went to uni, when my very generous parents subsidised me in term time as, in their eyes, my job was to get a good degree (although I still worked in uni holidays and they didn't give me money then).

Out of the pocket money I had to buy any non-essentials I wanted - sweets, crisps, magazines, CDs, clothes etc, although my parents bought my school uniform. They also matched whatever they gave me by putting it into my savings account, although that stopped for good once I got a job.

I think when/if I have my own children I'll use a similar system, as I know that the way my parents did it encouraged me to work to get the money rather than just expecting it as a handout, and it was nice to be able to buy things and feel like I'd earned them.

reluctantworkingmum

i gave mine (five) pocket money from when they were eight - a pound a week to teach them to budget then stopped buying sweets n' treats. increased yearly by pound increments until it hit £5 when recession hit and prices rose no further!!! oldest one at college (living at home) gets an extra twenty pound a month allowance towards clothes. very interesting to see that spending or budgeting habits are nature not nurture as all are completely different and range from the miser to the permanently brassic!!

wildthing01

i voted '02', but only cos my eldest is only 25 mths and has no idea what money is for, except for posting into her snazzy electronic money box (and obviously also down the back of sofa, into mummy's boots, into the dvd player and many other surprising places, together with bits of jigsaw and half-eaten biscuits...)

jinky67

got an error page when I clicked through :cool:

jayII

Mine get £30 a month each, plus the odd bit extra, for doing extra chores.

DD buys clothes and birthday presents with hers. She's clothes and friend mad.

DS seems to spend all of his on junk food, and bus fares to see friends out in the countryside. He's stick thin, like I was at his age, and forever hungry. That's on top of eating us out of house and home! :eek: :rotfl:

Linky worked fine for me. :cool:

keet83

i aint got any kids, which is probably why i've got some good savings, but when i was a teenager (15 or 16 i think) i used to get £40 a month and learnt a lot about how to handle money rather than being paid weekly

immoral_angeluk

I've just started the whole pocket money thing with my eldest, who's 5 on wednesday. She gets 20p for every chore she does (which are totally dependant on her tempermant and mood at the time!) So far she's earnt 50p and she's been going a week. (She got 10p once as she did the chore with her sister, 3, so they split it!).

cw18

I couldn't vote in this one (other than 'all older than'), but when mine were younger it depended on their age - so the age brackets in the poll (especially 0-12) would have made it nigh on impossible for me to answer anyway!!

They didn't start getting pocket money until they started school, then they got 25p a week for each 'year old' they were. So at 4 they got £1, and at 12 they got £3. Regular pocket money then stopped when they hit 15 (by which time they'd all had the option of paper rounds for a couple of years).

But they were never expected to buy their own clothes, although they had to pay the difference between what I was prepared to pay and what the ticket price was if they wanted 'named brands'. But if they wanted something that wasn't "needed", then that was down to them entirely.

And if they were spending on something 'educational' (which included certain computer games as well as any books - but not comics or magazine - and toys/games with an educational element) then I used to match them, meaning they only paid half. My youngest often used to go for his second choice of something as I wouldn't help with the cost of the first choice but would the second - meaning his money went further

rosalie-lavender

Mine teenagers get £5 a week each. The deal with mine is that I can dock it for bad behaviour and they are supposed to keep their rooms tidy as part of the deal as well. I buy all their basic clothes and school uniforms but if they want fancy clothes or designer brands they have to save up for them. They also save up and pay for computer games and cd's out of pocket money and Christmas/Birthday money.

karent_2

I have 2 teen daughters 14 and 16. They get 5 pounds a week. I provide minimal amounts of clothing, just enough to get by on, and school uniforms. The younger one spends all hers on clothes, the eldest has saved everything for months, as she wants to visit friends in Canada this year. Totally different! They are expected to share most of the housework with me, as a single parent working full time I couldn't manage otherwise. They are wonderful. Was contemplating a small rise, as they really do deserve more.

The elder one will get £30 per week EMA next year, the younger one not till the following year. Any suggestions on how to handle the pocket money issue during that year. Don't want jealousy. Obviously I will talk to them about it but just wondered what you thought

I have a five year old aswell, and I will be interested to hear how others deal with pocket money. Not sure how many chores she'd do, I think she'd rather starve than tidy up!!!!!