Should Children Receive An Allowance?

This is a very controversial topic. You’ll find experts who believe an allowance offers many benefits to the child and you’ll find experts who don’t believe an allowance sends the right message.

I’m on the side of not giving allowance, at least not for everyday household chores. Each of us has a responsibility to help out by doing dishes, putting away groceries and making sure things are picked up regularly.

When extra’s are such as window washing or lawn mowing are done, I think it’s awesome to have a set amount that’s paid.

In the case of an allowance for chores done, what happens if the chore is not done? How much do you deduct each time a full trash can is not taken out? Or how much do you deduct if only part of a room gets cleaned?

In the case of the extra chores it’s a simple case of if you do the job, you get paid and if you don’t do the job, there’s no extra/disposable income this week.

So, how do you decide how to finance your child’s movie money or ice cream money or iPod money?

My kids are older now. When they were tweens and teens, what worked was I mostly said yes to reasonable requests as long as chores were normally done, grades were kept up and rules were followed. For something like an iPod, I’d offer to pay one half. These types of purchases were not allowed on a regular basis. And remember there are always extra chores for extra income.

We did do a clothing allowance. We added up what I tended to spend in a given year and divided it by 12 months. Each month I added a certain amount to this clothing allowance. They then could buy their own clothes. If they chose a pair of designer jeans over the less expensive brands, this was their choice, however that might mean no new shoes for the year. Again, their choice. This absolutely teaches choices and budgeting, without the added deductions for chores not done.

Decide what message you want to give to your children regarding allowance and then set up a system that works for your family.

Audrey :)
http://mytupperware.com/audreyoka