Our children begin learning the ins and outs of managing their money from the time we start paying them money to do chores around the house. But when do we STOP giving our kids ‘Pocket Money’?
Perhaps the best way of tackling this question is to go back to the beginning and understand why we give pocket money in the first place. Sure, we want to establish an appreciation and understanding of the financial side of life; what they have to do to get it and what they do with it are probably the two biggest lessons about money a child can learn.
Helping around the house with simple tasks like emptying out the dishwasher, feeding the dog or taking the rubbish out can be completed by kids from a very early age. As they get older the chores become more age appropriate, such as helping with dinner, hanging the washing out, or cleaning the bathroom. Trust me, the amount of the pocket money always weighed more heavily on the kids side than the parents, but providing the jobs were completed without too much complaining, it was a great learning exercise.
When my kids were young, pocket money had to be earned, so a roster went up on the fridge each fortnight with chores for that time and if the jobs weren’t completed, then the pocket money was reduced accordingly. Some weeks the handouts were a tad scarce! Saving for something special was encouraged and occasionally, through negotiation usually, real results were rewarded with a $ for $ deal.
Keeping in mind the need for school work to be completed to an acceptable level, the coming of age job at the local burger, pizza joint or supermarket is usually a subject for discussion by the age of 15 or a little less. They see their friends earning real money for a change, not just the petty cash doled out by mum and dad and all of a sudden, what they were saving for over 3 months was at their fingertips within a week or two riches!
This was also about the time I decided to ‘Stop the Pocket Money’. Ouch!! Choruses of “That’s not fair” fell on deaf ears. Time at work left little time to ‘help’ around the house and one day they were going to have to learn the balance of running a home and earning to pay their own way, so why not start now?
So stop the pocket money we did. They learnt, mostly, to plan ahead and survive on the ‘pittance’ they were apparently earning, not to dwell on the fact that no board was ever paid, meals were supplied and taxi services were still free! You see, they were learning about responsibility and reward for effort, at least in my eyes!
Do you give your children pocket money and if so do they have to earn it?
When do you suggest you stop giving kids pocket money??
Very tasty, thankyou!