BellaOnline Forums Family Work & Family Should Children Get an Allowance?

When I was a child, I never received an allowance, however, I was comfortable asking my parents, especially my dad, for money for candy, etc.

I am an advocate of giving a small allowance to children to help them understand the value of a dollar and the need to save for what you want. What are reader feelings on allowances? I would love to hear (or read) your thoughts.

I believe children should receive an allowance in exchange for extra chores around the house.

Taisha,

I suspect that's where most parents stand now. Kids don't always understand the money-concept. When my girlfriends daughter was 4 or 5 years old, she thought all her mother had to do was drive to the bank teller's window and "give the lady a note" and mom would receive money. You should have seen my friends face as she told me the story. The child learned received her first money lesson from mommy.

I wonder if any parent gives an allowance, 'just because' these days.

The only time I received an allowance was for a chore/duty exchange. This way early on, I knew what needed to be done to get that amount of money, and I didn't just waste it. My son lives with his father and doesn't get an allowance but does do chores around the house, he is 5 right now, 6 in afew months.

My girl is only 1 and I have no problem when she is older, giving her an allowance rather than just buying her anything she wants. I have seen that road afew times and it never turned out good.

We have a chore chart at our house that has age appropriate chores for our kids. My son is 7 and my daughter is almost 5. If they get all their chores done, they get $4 each on Friday. We have them save a dollar or 2 in their piggy banks then are allowed to spend the rest. We are thinking about opening savings accounts at the bank for them. I wasn't given an allowance until I was a teenager and hanging out at the mall all the time (I lived within a 20 minute walk of a mall....I was what we called Mallrats when I was a teen LOL)

I give my children allowance in exchange for chores. If they need extra for something, I take into account their grades, attitudes, keeping their room clean etc;

I give mine an allowance and I am so proud that it is saved or spent wisely. It's so important in todays times that children are shown how to manage some money so when they leave home they don't get themselves into unnecessary debt from mis management. One of the things I do is I make a suggestion when I give money other then for an allowance: "well you can either have that money toward that item you want now OR you can save it toward that bigger item I know you want and been speaking about". This is a fantastic strategy and there is no forcing them into the decision because you are only recommending an idea.

Our neighbors do a cool thing with their kids. They get a weekly allowance, but a pre-determined portion of it must be designated for a charity. For example, they get $5 but $1 goes to charity. The kids pick their own charities, too. And then the parents match the kids' donations. I think this is a brilliant way to teach kids about money, giving, how to make a difference, etc.

We don't "give" an allowance. Funds must be earned. Each child has a set of tasks they are expected to do as a regular part of their day - they don't receive payment for those tasks. If they want to earn money, they have to perform a task that is above and beyond what is required of them as contributing members of the household. After all, I'm not paid to do laundry; there are simply some things we do because we must in order to have the household run smoothly and happily. Our children have to learn there are things they must do for which they cannot expect payment--other than thanks and a hug. We keep a list of "extra" tasks that the children can opt to do if they feel they need funds for something extra. If they are planning a future purchase, we can add the extra task to their regular day (in essence it becomes their paid work). As they do the task each day, we record the amount they earn and then pay it out at a specified time. At this stage of the game (our children are small) charitable contributions are made in the form of time donated to service (accompanying us).

I think the idea of teaching kids to give to charity is very important! My kids donate their outgrown toys and clothes to charity and we make a day of it-thinking of the kids that will be helped.

Charity also begins with donating time as well as money.