how much spending money?

WolfSong2000

Tropez wrote: »

In the case of the youngest she cannot work because it would be illegal. With the exception of babysitting and odd jobs for friends and family, The Children and Young Persons Act forbids children under 13 from working, unless it is in the areas of sport, modelling, film, television, advertising or plays and even then the employer is required to have a licence.

Even at 13, the local authority needs a specific by-law in place allowing children to undertake a particular type of work. Children can't even get a paper round legally unless the by-law is in place permitting them to do so.

Also, in all fairness, the work that you describe would also breach current laws regarding employment hours and frequency when employing children.

Alright, granted, the youngest is too young to officially work, but if she's horsey then why can she not help out at the yard that she rides one day a week or something? When I was her age I was helping out at livery yards for a few hours and it did me no harm. I even got the odd free lesson out of it as I wasn't technically getting paid (first paying job was when I was about 13-14, but worked at yards for a year or two before that, helping out with various bits). .

lostinrates

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

Alright, granted, the youngest is too young to officially work, but if she's horsey then why can she not help out at the yard that she rides one day a week or something? When I was her age I was helping out at livery yards for a few hours and it did me no harm. I even got the odd free lesson out of it as I wasn't technically getting paid (first paying job was when I was about 13-14, but worked at yards for a year or two before that, helping out with various bits). .

I did this too. Now, for most of us, things have changed. There are changes impacting on having working pupils, and my yard insurance prevents me having anyone under 16 in the stable with a horse...i.e. they can ride but not tack up/groom. Of course...this pushes prices up too (more staff horse to tack up, muck out when previously that could have been work for rides/livery)and limits business- many more mother daughter shares/teen liveries. I do not teach, but have room for liveries. I have turned away about half a dozen teenagers with ponies/horses since December (by choice, it is not economical for me to have insurance that would cover them, and tbh....that's fine with me...we are a small yard with a good atmosphere which is important to me)...a local yard must be closing down. Incidentally, I know some yards with high turnovers do still pay for higher insurance. Many others still let kids help for rides...but are not adequately insured. The last person in the world I would want teaching a young person about horses is one who ignores the risks of working with them. It also makes working to ''reasonable'' margin impossible for other yards doing as they are meant to with insurance etc.

nomuny

any- I was previously giving him the whole amount but then if he wanted to go to cinema or anything he was coming for more and because I felt guilty that DD was getting more per week than him I was giving it him - the giving him a £1 or £2 at a time is a recent thing because was blowing the lot on sweets and choc and fizzy drink and sitting and polishing the lot off ( I have stopped buying any of this stuff both for financial and health reasons ).
duke and p-pincher - I have disscussed this option with them but on reflection can't really afford to do this at the moment but I do think if you can afford to do this it is a good idea.