Chores and Pocket Money

Anonymous

Chores and Pocket Money

My Children are 11 & 9. They have chores and go above and beyond what their peers do. Since Covid-19 they have really stepped up, showing initiative and taking on more jobs to help the family. They do not want for much as they have all they need and then a little more. I wouldnt say spoilt but they have a good life and all needs and some wants met. My question is pocket money? How much should we give... I don’t want to go over or under so just wanting to measure up with other parents.

Posted in:  Parenthood Guilt

6 Replies

Anonymous

It really depends what they do. You could do a system of ranking each chore with a price and tick off during the week how many times they do that and calculate at the end. $3 would be a reasonable price for say, washing a load of dishes.

Or you could just do a set amount if they complete a set amount each week. $10 is more then enough (possibly even less) especially because you have two.

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Anonymous

Keep the pocket money small and reward the 'stepping up' with a family outing, camping trip, family purchase (eg. tandem bike, trampoline). Something that reinforces that you notice their behaviour but that 'stepping up' isn't a 'paid' activity. Hope I'm making sense...

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Anonymous

I don't believe in paying kids for chores, but if they do a larger job then i would reward them in a different way with a compromise that they and i agreed on, such as going to the movies or another fun outing, or the purchasing of an item they have had their eye on etc .. But keep the reward small enough that its worth it, but isn't being taken advantage of or expected for future chores. Bigger jobs like any gardening type work, or excessively long jobs. Regular household jobs, i don't pay them for.

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Anonymous

Just a different perspective - we give an age-based amount (mine is 9 so she gets $9 pw, for instance). We don't pay for chores as such, since her dad and I don't get paid to do housework, but she is expected to pitch in as a member of the household, to the extent that she is capable.

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Anonymous

I've never paid for the household chores that they were responsible for, but if they took one of our jobs (mine or dads) and did it for us we paid them for it. Things like washing the cars, mowing the lawn, weeding gardens etc.

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Anonymous

None. You’re teaching them life skills. By giving pocket money it becomes an expectation that they do things to get something in return. They’re apart of the household so they contribute like everybody else.

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