Should you give pocket money to your children?
Sometimes a debate gets going on my Facebook page which promotes a huge response with everyone keen to give their views and feedback. A few months back there was a discussion about pockets money so I wanted to share some of the discussion on here. Read on for some ideas or maybe to see if what you do is similar to others.
We currently do not give pocket money; our boys are 9,7 and 4. I started off the debate as I was not sure if pocket money was the right thing to do or not. I discovered there is a wide range of viewpoints out there amongst you readers.
Press findings about a gender gap in Pocket Money!
I had also read in the press that a gender gap was already appearing with boys getting more pocket money than girls and that £6 was the average amount of pocket money. I was interested to see if this was true.
Mrs Mummypenny Facebook Discussion
24 people commented to tell me what they did with pocket money and their family. Ages ranged from little ones 4,5,6 all the way up to teenagers. Most people gave money to their children. 4 out of the 24 didn’t give pocket money, mostly quoting that they couldn’t afford it.
Of the 20 who did give money it was mostly given in return for doing jobs in the house. Here are a few comments
Facebook Comments
AH says:
My older 2 boys which are 7&5 get 20p per job they do around the house and an extra £1 each day they are good they have those tins you need to open with a can opener so they don’t actually get their money it goes in a tin as they want to save up for something they really want my 7yr old wants an Xbox and my 5yr old wants a Wii u console so they have to earn it.
AS says:
My two eldest aged 14 and 15 have £10 pw, and two youngest £5 each per week, all have to save 25% of what they earn, and they love seeing the achievement of saving.
SH says:
No pocket money but earn money through jobs and achievements etc. usually increments of 20p boy 9, girl 5, boy 2. The two older will be using their money to buy their sweets at the cinema today. Works for us….
HL says:
I pay £20 a month into each of my boy’s bank accounts as pocket money. They are 4 and 6 years old. I will do the same for my 6-month-old daughter once I get an account set up for her. It means if they see something they want they can use that money rather than I pay for it.
KD:
I’m a Foster carer and have 2 boys both aged £15 and I HAVE to give them a minimum of £10 per week. On that basis, there is a chore chart, the rest of us have to go out and earn our money so they need to learn it’s the same for them. They take bin out / bring it in, load / unload dishwasher, lay/clear table and keep their rooms tidy. This is on a rota basis to give it a bit of variety!
Its seems that most under 10 are getting around £5 for their chores or pocket money with the teenagers earning more like £10.
It’s great seeing lots of financial responsibility for our children with it mostly being earned rather than given.
What Will I do?
I want to formalise what I do with the boys. It’s important to install a sense of responsibility and there being a consequence to their actions of helping with jobs. Maybe £5 per week in return for 5 jobs like keeping bedroom tidy, putting away clean clothes, emptying dishwasher, putting out recycling and cleaning football boots. There is a regular requirement for football things like boots, water bottles, shin pads etc. so this money can help go towards paying for them.
Financial education is so important to children. I have written my top tips for ideas on how to broach the subject with children here. I also featured in The Times with the same information.
One Response
nice