Pocket Money
By
With my son starting school (and being all grown up) I have been thinking a bit lately about pocket money. Plus, he is constantly asking me for things so I would like to try and make him have some sort of understanding about the value of money.
I found a survey on the Raising Children Network which found that over two thirds of parents give their kids pocket money by the time they are 6 years old, usually less than $2 per week. Up until the age of 11 years the average is around $5 a week and over 12 years nearly half are getting over $12 a week.
There are some parents who don’t believe in giving pocket money in payment for household chores. Rather, that jobs done around the house are being part of a family and a child shouldn’t receive payment for this.
The survey found over two thirds pay weekly but more than half withhold money as a punishment. Around 25% don’t expect their children to do anything for pocket money but 70% ask their kids to do household jobs in return.
One of my biggest questions was how much I should pay him. Some parents pay $1 per age, with the opportunity to earn more money by doing extra jobs, others (like my parents when I was growing up) gives a certain amount of money per job.
Giving $5 to my son seemed a little too much at this point in his life, so here is what I have decided to do: I am going to start slow: pay $1 every Friday and he has to do “bath jobs” (packing away the bath toys him and his brother play with after each bath, pulling out the plug and cleaning the floor if they have splashed too much – also putting his dirty clothes inside the hamper and hanging his towel up = I am determined that my son WILL pick up his wet towels, something my brother at the age of 31 still does not do!!!) – and his other job is putting out the recycling when I ask him, which is usually a couple of things every 2 or 3 days.
I plan on increasing his responsibilities and pay rate, and also encourage him to put some money in his school back account later in the year.
I have to say – so far, so good. Mason likes being treated like a big boy and loves looking at his money. He actually earned a little money over the school holidays helping his Dad out, and with the pocket money I have been giving him the past few weeks he now has enough saved for a science kit he has been wanting for ages.
http://www.narrabriw-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/parents/Chores_MGrose.pdf – here is an interesting article on Chores and Responsibility by Michael Grose. There are suggested chores and responsibilities divided by age.
Leave a comment below or on Facebook how you deal with pocket money.
