Teenagers Allowance

millysg1

Universities are also getting more competitive and a job and life experiences definitely help with ones personal statement and interview.

ciderwithrosie_2

It depends on how you sell your work experience on your CV/at interview. Working in a chippy may not be directly relevant to your chosen career but it demonstrates that you were keen to gain some independence, commitment and that you're not above getting your hands dirty (or greasy!).

DS3 had retail and bar and restaurant experience all before he left for Uni, so no problems getting some part-time work in a holiday resort town with 2 universities!

Andypandyboy

millysg1 wrote: »

I'm I my mid 20s and I can see a difference between my friends and cousins that worked and those that did not and got everything paid for them. Mostly the difference is not academically but with their life/job decisions. Those that did not work sort of got lost at 18-22 ish with not knowing what to do career wise, even those at uni changed their minds and took a while to find a job on graduating.

My friends and cousins who worked, definitely seem to know more about what they wanted in a career and had that bit more life experience.

Just my point of view, I'm sure there are stories that appose this!

Funny thing is, the one child of mine that did work through college and Uni is the one who did change her mind part way through and changed direction. The others, who came after, did not work and were more focussed on their studies. So I suppose we have experience of that opposing point of view.

GoldenShadow

Cor I wish my Mum and Dad had been so generous

I got £25 a month and had to feed the family pets on weeknights to earn it. Paid for my own phone. Got £1.50 a day for lunch at school. Mum would buy my toiletries and clothes but not make up. Got a job when I was 16 and saved over summer. Then when I was 17-18 I worked at weekends as well as summer. Mum stopped allowance when I started uni (but went from home) and I worked part time whilst doing my degree until I graduated and got a full time job. I'm only 23, so this wasn't too many years ago

Grumpygit

My DD is 15 now but has had a part time job in a shop since she was just past 14 - she will get £32 for a day and it's only now either a Saturday or Sunday (she can hopefully get extra days during school holidays).

We also put £10 pw in an account to pay for her bike insurance.

I will buy any necessities (toiletries/school uniform/basic clothes) but anything else she has to buy (that must have coat even though she already has 3!).

I am happy that she has the job as they are very hard to come by over here and I regularly see her friends trying to get one now - we did push her into trying to get one when she turned 14 as she has to pay for her mobile and petrol for the scooter.

Worry_Wart

I worked from the age of 15, first in a kebab shop, then as a cleaner, and then in a cushy cash office job at the weekends. It didn't do my studies any harm - I still got three a's at a-level, and it gave me a lot of independence (and a great record collection!). Funnily enough I had a career change a few years ago and they wanted to know what real life jobs I'd done before becoming an academic, so it was good that I could draw on my years of actual hard graft as a teenager.

zagfles

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

For a first or second job, they certainly are. Both my graduate employers asked me about the part time jobs. It's all transferable skills and shows initiative and drive.

As is a lot of other stuff, for instance D of E, NCS, volunteering to help in the local school, even hobbies etc. It doesn't have to be a paid job.

zagfles

millysg1 wrote: »

Universities are also getting more competitive and a job and life experiences definitely help with ones personal statement and interview.

DD's college want her to apply to Oxford, they gave us loads of advice none of which was for her to get a job!

PasturesNew

When I was that age I got my regular pocket money (equivalent to the price of two cheap pairs of tights) for one year. And that was it, nothing in my 2nd year. That was 30+ years ago.

I worked evenings, weekends and holidays to make the money I needed to pay for books, pads/pencils and the standard magazine a lot of the lessons were based around. I was also buying my own clothes etc (well, the safety pins to hold them together most of the time).

zagfles

millysg1 wrote: »

I'm I my mid 20s and I can see a difference between my friends and cousins that worked and those that did not and got everything paid for them. Mostly the difference is not academically but with their life/job decisions. Those that did not work sort of got lost at 18-22 ish with not knowing what to do career wise, even those at uni changed their minds and took a while to find a job on graduating.

My friends and cousins who worked, definitely seem to know more about what they wanted in a career and had that bit more life experience.

Just my point of view, I'm sure there are stories that appose this!

I think there's a big difference between getting "everything paid for", and paying kids an allowance and letting them pay for everything themselves. The latter encourages financial independance, it teaches them the value of money and how to be careful with it (kids are amazingly tight when it's their "own" money they're spending!). We give them a fixed amount for basically everything except essentials (roof over their head and family meals), other stuff they pay for out of their allowance.

Whereas parents that pay everything directly don't teach kids how much things costs, the kids don't think about the cost when they want something, they don't learn to budget, or save up for things.

Re working, there's not really a great deal of difference between say going to college for so many hours a week and getting an allowance, to going to work for so many hours a week and getting paid. If she didn't go to college and study hard, she wouldn't get the allowance!