Pocket Money for 12 and 16 year old

moomoomama27

I cannot imagine giving my 11 year old the responsibility of having a monthly allowance, whereby she would gave to budget for clothing, lunches, bus passes etc. to me that's a very adult thing to do (budgeting), where is their childhood, those carefree days, where money was a grown up issue!

I think it's gone teaching life skills, but for me, that is very sad. I'm sure there are many adults, who are successful with money who didn't need to learn that at Dutch a young age.

IrishRose12

moomoomama27 wrote: »

I cannot imagine giving my 11 year old the responsibility of having a monthly allowance, whereby she would gave to budget for clothing, lunches, bus passes etc. to me that's a very adult thing to do (budgeting), where is their childhood, those carefree days, where money was a grown up issue!

I think it's gone teaching life skills, but for me, that is very sad. I'm sure there are many adults, who are successful with money who didn't need to learn that at Dutch a young age.

I agree. I look at some of my nieces and nephews and they wouldn't know what to do with it. They're still far too young to be having to think of things like that. They should be left to be children and learn about these things when they're older.
I don't like the word allowance either it's called pocket money in our whole family, although my son thinks he gets paid like his mummy and daddy cause he does work around the house:rotfl: He's in for a big shock when he gets older:eek::rotfl:

As long as my children are happy, healthy and well cared for I will pay for whatever they need when they need it. They won't need to worry if they don't have money for something or freak out if they think they'll get into trouble, or not have any food to eat at lunchtime. They are children and I know all too well working in a school how children aren't children these days. No innocence or no manners either! My children aren't spoilt but they aren't deprived either. But it's MY job to be in charge of their money needs until they reach the age of 18 IMO.
And they'll not be in charge of buying their own clothes either. I'll be in charge of that until at least 14 years old, and even then, if they want something I don't think is appropriate then they'll not get it.
I don't agree with children wearing hotpants, or crop tops or other horrible clothes. They will be dressed in a respectful and tasteful manner until they are old enough to make the correct decisions.

adindas

All depends on your circumstance. But in general
I think £20 a month for 16yo teenagers is too little considering what £20 could buy nowadays. £10 a week or £40 a month will be more reasonable

For 12yo kids £30 a month might be reasonable.

Your kids will remember you in the future when they start earning a decent wage, my mum is very stingy ....

To cut down the cost why not try to cut their telephone bill ??
£12 a month phone bills for 12 or 16 yo teenagers will be excessive. Fins a cheaper contract and buy a cheap android. You could get an android phone for about £60 nowadays, £6.90 a month phone contract
Look at here for instance

http://store.three.co.uk/SIM_Only/Voice_Pay_Monthly?id=1229$$&ebkw=64705058&sead=35604625014&gclid=CKjthuW0mr4CFQrntAodxBoAAA&gclsrc=ds


Just £6.90 a month for 200 mins, 500 MB, 5000 texts
Contract length: 12 month contract.

Loobysaver wrote: »

At the moment I pay £20 per month to my 16 year old and nothing to my 12 year old mainly because she is a lazy so and so! I also pay £12 each per month for their mobile phones.

I am thinking of trying again with pocket money for my 12 year old to try and encourage her to learn the value of money and to get her room tidied on a more frequent basis:mad:

Can anyone advise what you think is a fair sum for a 12 year old. Also do you think I should increase the pocket money to my 16 year old as I am conscious of the fact that her friends seem to get a lot more.

Many thanks

ska_lover

I don't agree with giving 16 year olds pocket money at all - they should be doing chores for their keep - as it costs so much to keep them anyway, without giving them extra

At 16 they are old enough to get a job on a saturday, and a paper round much younger from age 13

Sorry, I know a lot of people will not agree, but I dislike the sense of entitlement that a lot of young ones have these days - and giving them money - in some cases for nothing - and in other cases for doing jobs that they should otherwise be doing anyway, is unrealistic in the real world.

People are bandying around figures £30 / £40 a month and it makes me wonder how people manage, if they have several children, that amount is really adding up, so people are giving their children a large proportion of their disposable income, for doing nothing..

The parents who are giving it, do you have £30 or £40 a month for luxuries for yourselves? That is part of being a parent I guess, handing over cash, and then feeling guilty when you spend a couple of quid on a magazine for yourself?

Life isnt about luxuries landing in our laps

I do not understand the parents who give their children pocket money, but really it is for neccesary items, like clothing etc, either..

I am clearly as tight as a ducks whatsit, but never gave pocket money to mine, they were expected to tidy their rooms, do chores as part of being a responsible young adult, and if they wanted treats, go and get a paper round etc. Having said that, I was a single parent, so there literally was no spare cash for luxuries, for anyone

Loobysaver

ska_lover wrote: »

I don't agree with giving 16 year olds pocket money at all - they should be doing chores for their keep - as it costs so much to keep them anyway, without giving them extra

At 16 they are old enough to get a job on a saturday, and a paper round much younger from age 13

Sorry, I know a lot of people will not agree, but I dislike the sense of entitlement that a lot of young ones have these days - and giving them money - in some cases for nothing - and in other cases for doing jobs that they should otherwise be doing anyway, is unrealistic in the real world.

People are bandying around figures £30 / £40 a month and it makes me wonder how people manage, if they have several children, that amount is really adding up, so people are giving their children a large proportion of their disposable income, for doing nothing..

The parents who are giving it, do you have £30 or £40 a month for luxuries for yourselves? That is part of being a parent I guess, handing over cash, and then feeling guilty when you spend a couple of quid on a magazine for yourself?

Life isnt about luxuries landing in our laps

I do not understand the parents who give their children pocket money, but really it is for neccesary items, like clothing etc, either..

I am clearly as tight as a ducks whatsit, but never gave pocket money to mine, they were expected to tidy their rooms, do chores as part of being a responsible young adult, and if they wanted treats, go and get a paper round etc

Believe me when my 16 year old finds a job then I will be cutting the pocket money as you are right, it works out expensive when you have more than one child. I never received pocket money when i was a child, however I did get a job when I was at school which is a lot harder to do these days.
If i didn't give my 16 year old any money she would not be able to join in with her friends or go out anywhere.

ska_lover

I didnt get pocket money as a kid either, so may well stem from that - my parents were clearly tight @rses too haha

Buzzybee90

ska_lover wrote: »

I don't agree with giving 16 year olds pocket money at all - they should be doing chores for their keep - as it costs so much to keep them anyway, without giving them extra

At 16 they are old enough to get a job on a saturday, and a paper round much younger from age 13

Sorry, I know a lot of people will not agree, but I dislike the sense of entitlement that a lot of young ones have these days - and giving them money - in some cases for nothing - and in other cases for doing jobs that they should otherwise be doing anyway, is unrealistic in the real world.

People are bandying around figures £30 / £40 a month and it makes me wonder how people manage, if they have several children, that amount is really adding up, so people are giving their children a large proportion of their disposable income, for doing nothing..

The parents who are giving it, do you have £30 or £40 a month for luxuries for yourselves? That is part of being a parent I guess, handing over cash, and then feeling guilty when you spend a couple of quid on a magazine for yourself?

Life isnt about luxuries landing in our laps

I do not understand the parents who give their children pocket money, but really it is for neccesary items, like clothing etc, either..

I am clearly as tight as a ducks whatsit, but never gave pocket money to mine, they were expected to tidy their rooms, do chores as part of being a responsible young adult, and if they wanted treats, go and get a paper round etc. Having said that, I was a single parent, so there literally was no spare cash for luxuries, for anyone

Agree, I lived in the !!!! end of nowhere and I had no trouble finding a job, granted it was a pittance waitressing job but it was something. At least four of the restaurants I walk past on the way home now (city) are asking for staff.

My education didnt suffer because I spent 6 hours on a Sunday serving food.

Indie_Kid

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

Agree, I lived in the !!!! end of nowhere and I had no trouble finding a job, granted it was a pittance waitressing job but it was something. At least four of the restaurants I walk past on the way home now (city) are asking for staff.

My education didnt suffer because I spent 6 hours on a Sunday serving food.

If the "90" at the end of your name refers to your year of birth, you're a year younger than me. It was much easier to find a job as a teenager than it is now.

balletshoes

ska_lover wrote: »

I didnt get pocket money as a kid either, so may well stem from that - my parents were clearly tight @rses too haha

I didn't get pocket money either, but my parents often had 2 jobs each through my childhood, just to make ends meet. As children, because of where we lived and how old I am (ie 35 years ago) we made money in our summer and october holidays on the farms, and when I was 13 I easily got a saturday job in a shop.
Neither of those options is available to my daughter now, and she may be 15 or 16 before she manages to get a part-time job.

We don't scrimp to give her an allowance, we both have more disposable income than she does. I agree that it would be unbalanced if we were going without so she could have pocket money.

ska_lover

It definately is much harder finding a job now indie kid, definately, however old you are