Pocket Money

Chickabiddybex · 8 January 2018 at 6:19PM

I read that the average pocket money for a 12-16 year old is £6.71 a week. URL="https://www.furniturechoice.co.uk/blog/guide/top-pocket-money-apps-parents-kids/"]source[/URL

It seems to have gone up a bit since I was younger but not a huge amount. What shocked me is people give their kids money for doing chores such as cleaning up after a pet which I had to do for free!

The other chores and amounts are:
Cleaning the car: £2.54
Mowing the lawn: £2.38
Ironing: £2.19
Sweeping the garden: £1.86
Cleaning up after pets: £1.78

How much pocket money do you give your kids? And how much did you get when you were a kid?

Do you pay your kids for chores and if so how much?

How do you pay your kids? (Cash or digitally)

I was shocked to discover that kids these days often have pocket money cards and apps!
You can read more about those on the original link above or here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/cards-for-under-18s

Comms69 · 8 January 2018 at 6:25PM

Well paying kids for jobs is a good way to build a work ethic.

The amounts seem low for some and high for others.

oystercatcher · 8 January 2018 at 6:36PM

I found when I paid my children to do chores they wouldn't do anything unless it was paid.

Then my eldest said " I think we should help Mum because we love her !" That worked much better. I gave them a set amount of pocket money because I loved them and they learned to budget .

The amounts are irrelevant now as time has passed..... but when they were teens I gave them monthly pocket money by standing order so they learned to manage a bank account too.

z1a · 8 January 2018 at 6:53PM

My 14 YO Son, doesn't get pocket money as such, but when he wants something he'll ask, and usually gets it, not very materialistic anyway, and very rarely asks for expensive stuff.

peachyprice · 8 January 2018 at 7:38PM

oystercatcher wrote: »

I found when I paid my children to do chores they wouldn't do anything unless it was paid.

Then my eldest said " I think we should help Mum because we love her !" That worked much better. I gave them a set amount of pocket money because I loved them and they learned to budget .

The amounts are irrelevant now as time has passed..... but when they were teens I gave them monthly pocket money by direct debit so they learned to manage a bank account too.

This is how I've always managed pocket money. Far more healthy than paying children to do 'chores' which I don't believe adds anything to achieving a work ethic.

OP, my youngest is 16 and gets £50 every 4 weeks into her bank account with which she buys her own clothes, make up, theatre tickets etc., and we pay for her phone. She also has a job teaching swimming two evenings a week. Her work ethic is just fine, so are her budgeting skills.

Diamandis · 8 January 2018 at 9:32PM

I'm disabled so my daughter does more for me than other kids do for their parents. She has a list of things to do and if everything is done she gets £10 per week, if she doesn't do all of it then she gets some money deducted from her £10.

kerri_gt · 8 January 2018 at 9:56PM

When I was younger I asked if I could do chores to earn some extra money above my pocket money. I was told in no uncertain terms that if I was asked to do something, I was expected to do it full stop as a member of the household, just like my parents who (as they pointed out) did not get paid to do the housework. They viewed paid chores as a form of bribery.

I still grew up with a perfectly good work ethic and got a paper round as soon as I could at 14 and from then on always had an after school or weekend job.

Kim_13 · 8 January 2018 at 10:04PM

I got £20 a month, £10 until I was in secondary school.

Everyone I know was either expected to do chores anyway or only got the occasional offer of say £5 to wash the car. No regular way to 'top up' pocket money without getting a job.

trailingspouse · 8 January 2018 at 10:41PM

When my kids were little, there were certain things they were expected to do for nowt - mostly keeping their rooms clean and tidy, cleaning out the guinea pigs, and some washing up. There were other things we paid them to do - I always remember getting my daughter to clean the wheelie bin out for the princely sum of £5!!!

I remember when I was about 12 or 13, and I was getting 30p a week pocket money (this was 1972). I felt that 30p wasn't enough, and started a conversation about the possibility of a pay increase. I'd hoped for 50p, but my Dad turned round and suggested an 'allowance' of £5 a month. Wow!! Not only was it more money than I could have imagined, but I was also the first of my friends to get an allowance rather than pocket money. Terribly grown up!!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted · 8 January 2018 at 10:55PM

I asked for 25p a week if I did the washing up (I would have been 8 or 9 and that was enough for a bag of pick 'n' mix that I could have a couple from each day - the other kids at school got £1-2, but I thought that was far too much to ask if money was as tight as I was always being told it was).

It was refused and from then, I had to do chores because if I was old enough to ask for money, I was old enough to do them. Vacuuming, washing up, collecting up dirty washing, pretreating it, sorting & putting it in the machine (not switching it on, for some reason), taking it out, hanging it out, bringing it back in, ironing and folding, polishing the shoes, feeding the animals, cleaning them out, giving them their medicines - plus I cleaned the cooker, sides and cupboard doors/floor whilst I was doing the washing up because I preferred a clean place.

My big brother started sneaking me money each week after hearing the first conversation (he gave me double what I'd asked for) and regularly increased it until he was giving me £5/wk plus taking me to the cinema once a month and buying me magazines and things like books and records every week until I got a job - and then he only stopped because I told him he didn't have to do it anymore.

I felt insulted that my effort wasn't good enough to be paid for when it was apparently good enough to make me do it, but my big brother earned my eternal gratitude for deciding to pay me anyway, whatever she said.

I'd think that £15 would be a comparable pocket money rate now - about 2.5 hours work for the low paid under 18.

AndyBSG · 9 January 2018 at 11:01AM

Just out of interest, what age do parents start giving kids pocket money?

My two are both too young at the moment to even understand the concept of money and I have no idea when to expect them to be wanting their own money!

Pocket Money

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