I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!Ceejay74 posted a link to an article on kids' allowances today found here:
http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/survey-kids-65-month-allow... and after reading it, I have to say, it annoyed me that it drew some of the conclusions it did. It was assuming that children get their allowances on top of their parents buying everything else for them as well. Umm...in what universe? "Some experts say." What experts? They don't even say who says it. Hand-wavy journalism, I see you.In the real world, the one I live in, parents don't buy their children everything else they want because parents live on a budget. In fact most parents won't even let children by everything they want with their own money. As in my family, children are expected to save up their money to get what they want and what they want still must be on the parental approval list.
They are assuming children do chores for about one hour a week to earn their allowances, though "some" parents require up to six.
I laughed at this. One hour of chores for $15 a week? No, I don't think so. Now, my daughter does earn $15 a week in allowance, a recent raise from $12, but she is 16. My son, who is 12, earns $10 a week. For their money they:
Take out the garbage (including to and from the curb on garbage day) (DD)
Take out the compost (DS)
Take out the recycling (including to and from the curb on recycling days)
Set the table (Both)
Clear the table (and wash it) (Both)
Load and unload the dishwasher (Both)
Scrub pots and pans (DD)
Clean off the surface of the stove when it gets messy (DD)
Clean out the refrigerator and scrub it or at least help (DD)
Clean the tub and shower stall (DS)
Clean the toilet (DS)
Clean the sink (DD)
Water the garden (DS)
Help with weeding (Both)
Sweep and vacuum floors (DD)
Keep rooms neat (Both)
Fold towels (DD)
Help with washing and drying clothes (Both)
Help harvest food from the garden (Both)
Help with canning (both)
Cooking meals at least once a week (DD)
Helping with meals a few times a week (Both)
Help with making bread or rolls (DS)
Makes all cakes, cookies, or other goodies (DD)
Cleans out the inside of the van (Both, their portions)
Helps with washing the van (Both)
In addition they both do chores for their grandmother (DS does yard work, mostly mowing and DD does housework) for an additional $5 a week. And DS collects aluminum cans from neighbors and in the park to earn additional money.
I seldom buy my children things other than nice clothing and a book or two. We do buy them events or experiences, like a trip to the zoo or the King Tut exhibit. On vacation they get a souvenir or two, but it's usually a t-shirt or sweatshirt or something practical like a book mark or necklace.
But for stuff? They've saved up for almost every big purchase they've wanted. If it's near their birthdays or Christmas I might go in halfsies with them as long as it doesn't go over their allotted amount.
I don't give my children music CD's or let them download whatever they want on my dime. They can pay for those themsevles and I have approval of artist. I might download a book if the whole family will read it. I don't pay for them to go to the movies unless it is a family thing. We go to the movies maybe once a year. We went to The Hunger Games together. It was a family outing. They don't go to see movies with their friends, but that has to do with approving content. If I approved content and they wanted to go then they'd certainly use their own allowances to pay for it.
Is it really that common for parents to buy them all this stuff above and beyond allowances? It wasn't when I was growing up and we were firmly in the working middle class. And I don't know any parents that do it now. Most of the parents I know can't even afford to give their kids allowances at all despite being firmly in the working middle class. They must not be getting their info from the middle or lower classes.
I don't think I'd have a different opinion if we weren't working so hard to get out of medical debt and had a ton of disposable income. I just don't see the point in giving children everything they want. I don't get everything I want even when we do have the money for it. I do see the point in having them earn it and save up for it. Maybe this is because I worked all through my childhood, every summer picking berries, and then when I was old enough, baby-sitting, and then regular jobs.
I do agree with the article that parents should talk to their kids about saving and about money. Do people really not do this in this day and age? I mean, I hear my kids' friends saying things like, we'll have to go to the park because we can't afford bowling or the movies. Or things like "My mom is broke this week because we bought school clothes, let's just go up to the lake." So it's clear they understand there is no money at the moment. And I hear them talking about saving up for stuff, too. I don't know.
Sometimes I think it's me with the disconnect, but most of the time I think it is the writer's of these articles using outdated information from when the economy was booming. But even then, I still didn't give my kids what they wanted. In fact back then they didn't even get allowances at all.
August 24th, 2012 at 08:29 pm 1345840148
"I haven't started giving Zoey (age 8) allowance yet. She is responsible for her room at this time only. We do let her spend gift money on what she wants to understand the cost of her wants. She normally saves her money. She made one big purchase so far and got a DS."
"A friend of mine started giving her little boy an allowance for chores done around the house when he started preschool. 1/3 goes to his savings, 1/3 goes to charity, and 1/3 goes to whatever he wants, whether it's for something fun or he can put it to savings or charity. She told me he's always chosen to give it to charity as their family works/donates a lot with helping out kids that are less fortunate in the US and elsewhere. I always thought that was so great that he always chooses to give it to a little kid who needs it more instead of buying something for himself. What a great lesson to teach your kids at a very young age to give back."
"I love the idea of allowances! I never got one and had a rough time learning to handle money when I first got out on my own. My friend has 3 step kids and I like their system. There are required chores (clean room, putting your laundry up, etc) and then they have a list of chores with designated values. $1 chores are easy (setting the table), $2 chores are harder (vacuuming), and $3 chores are hardest (cleaning the bathroom). So the kids have some say in it. I also really like the idea of teaching kids to save $ and give to others- the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule."
"Take a look at a book called The No-Cash Allowance by Lynne Finch. It might be a useful tool."
"I think that gets tricky. In my home, good grades were expected not rewarded. And as part of a household, shouldn't we expected to do a few basic things? If we get rewarded for doing everything, will we only want to do things if there is a reward involved? My friend does the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 and it seems to work really well."
"We give our boys a weekly allowance based on their age. They get more as they get older. We don't link it to chores. They pay for their own extra fun stuff like movies, video games, junk food, Legos. It saves them from asking if they can buy stuff. If they have money, they can have it. If they don't, they save or one brother will share. Took a while before they ever accumulated anything, but it's common for them to have a lot saved these days. It works for us."
August 24th, 2012 at 10:02 pm 1345845754
The best part about this system: I'm not the mean 'always saying "no" mom'. "Sure, you can have that over-priced Reeces PB cup in the check-out line - did you bring your money?"
Household chores are also done by every member of the family but aren't paid jobs, with some seasonal exceptions like cleaning the garage or the basement or detailing the car.
I think how you handle allowance depends upon what lesson you're trying to teach. If you're trying to show kids the relationship between working hard and getting paid, then you'll use paid chores to do that. We're trying to teach our kids how to manage money, and to do that, they have to have some to manage and be allowed to make mistakes with consequences.
There is a fantastic book on this subject called Raising Financially Fit Kids. It outlines 10 money skills to teach at different ages. And unlike books that just define a concept, it has action plans to choose from.
August 24th, 2012 at 10:54 pm 1345848888
I give my 4 year old $5 a week. He is expected to do age appropriate tasks. I'm looking out for more, if you have any suggestions!
August 25th, 2012 at 06:18 pm 1345918714
I do think we might need to pay our 11 year-old more. She gets $5/week for chores that take her about 30-45 minutes total each day.