How much allowance should i give my child

Guide to Allowances and Kids

Paying kids an allowance can help them to learn good money habits early on. Seventy-five percent of parents say they pay their child an allowance, according to T. Rowe Price’s 13th Annual Parents, Kids and Money Survey. If you have kids or plan to have them, knowing what other parents are doing can make it easier to come up with your own allowance strategy.

Key Takeaways

Seventy-five percent of parents pay their children an allowance.
The majority of parents require their children to earn the allowance that they receive.
The mean allowance amount is $19.30 per week, while 35% of parents pay in the $11 to $20 range.
The majority of parents who give their children an allowance do so to teach kids the value of working to earn money.

Average Kid’s Allowance

The amount that kids receive for an allowance can vary from family to family, but the mean weekly allowance amount is $19.30. In terms of what parents typically pay, here’s how the ranges break down:

$5 or less per week—14%
$6 to $10 per week—22%
$11 to $20 per week—35%
$21 to $50 per week—22%
$51 per week—7%

Kids may be ready to receive an allowance and start learning about money when they begin kindergarten, which is usually age 5 or 6.

Reasons for Paying Kids an Allowance

The decision to pay kids an allowance is different for every family, though the majority of parents say it’s important for kids to understand the value of working for their money. Here are the most common reasons cited for paying kids an allowance:

Want their kids to understand the importance of working to earn money—59%
Want to teach their children how to manage money—35%
Want their kids to stop asking them for money—3%
Because their kids’ friends receive one—2%
Other reasons—1%

Among parents who pay kids an allowance, 59% said they required their kids to work for it. Just 16% said they didn’t expect their kids to earn their allowance.

If you don’t yet have an emergency fund in place for your family, it may be better to prioritize building one first before paying kids an allowance.

How to Set an Allowance for Kids

A commonly used rule of thumb for paying an allowance is to pay children $1 to $2 per week for each year of their age. Following this rule, a 10-year-old would receive $10 to $20 per week, while a 16-year-old would get $16 to $32 per week.

Another option is to pay kids per completed chore each week, assuming that they’re required to earn their allowance. According to a RoosterMoney report, the average amounts for the five top-paid chores are:

Mowing the lawn—$7.49
Raking leaves—$4.48
Washing the car—$3.81
Gardening—$3.07
Washing windows—$1.94

Other options for paid chores might include washing dishes, vacuuming, helping with laundry, taking care of pets, emptying the dishwasher, and tidying up bedrooms.

Parents can also use a goals-based approach for determining where to set an allowance. Say, for example, that your child wants to save $400 to buy a gaming system. They want to earn that amount of money over the next six months. You can help them break their goal down to put into perspective how much they need to earn.

Per month—$67
Per week (assuming that they’re saving over a period of 26 weeks)—$15
Per day—a little over $2

Seeing the numbers can help kids decide whether their goal is achievable and figure out what they need to do to reach it. Learning how to set goals this way is a skill they can use when managing their finances as adults.

Benefits of Paying Kids an Allowance

One of the main benefits of paying kids an allowance is that it can help them to gain firsthand experience with making and managing money. Eighty percent of kids say it’s important for them to be able to earn their own money and discuss earning an income with their parents. And 97% of teens say that financial literacy is important.

Paying kids an allowance can help them develop their financial skills and enable them to make smarter decisions about money as adults. It can also encourage financial independence, rather than relying on their parents for money. Kids can learn how to budget and the importance of savings when they have money of their own to manage.

Consider the numbers. The personal savings rate in the United States was 5.8% as of January 2022. Thirty-five percent of Americans say they couldn’t cover a $400 emergency in cash. Those statistics highlight why it’s so important for kids to get into a savings habit early on.

What is a good weekly allowance for a child?

A good weekly allowance for a child can be $1 to $2 for each year of their age. The most important thing to keep in mind when paying kids a weekly allowance is what’s affordable, based on your budget, and what they’re required to do to earn it.

How much should a 12-year-old get for an allowance?

If you’re using the $1 to $2 per-year-of-age rule, then a 12-year-old should get a weekly allowance of $12 to $24. This range is consistent with the average weekly allowance that parents pay, which is $19.30. You may adjust this figure up or down, depending on the number of chores that your child is required to do to earn their allowance.

Should kids get paid for chores?

Whether it makes sense to pay kids for chores or not can depend on how you view those contributions and whether your kids receive an allowance for things other than helping out around the house. Using a paid chore system can teach kids responsibility and the value of earning money from doing work. However, some parents may view chores as a communal effort among all members of the household.

How do I reward my kids for doing chores?

Paying kids an allowance is a popular way to reward kids for completing their chores. If you would rather not pay kids an allowance simply for doing chores, you can reward them with other things, including screen time, a fun activity, or treating them to their favorite dinner or snacks.

The Bottom Line

The decision of whether or not to pay your children an allowance is a personal one, and there are different reasons for doing so. If you choose to pay one, it’s helpful to offer your kids some guidance on how to use it. That includes discussing the value of setting aside part of their earnings in savings before spending any of it. You might also consider teaching them the value of giving some of their money away to charity. The more often you talk about money with kids, the more knowledge you can equip them with when the time comes for them to manage their finances on their own.

Allowance, Age by Age

By the time your child finishes college, she likely will have racked up more than $5,000 of credit-card debt. By then, it's too late to give her a sound lesson in financial literacy. So it’s important to introduce the concept of money early. Letting kids manage an allowance teaches them to think in terms of choices, alternatives, and consequences.

The Beginning: Age 5 or 6
Introduce allowance when you think your child is ready, which is usually around age 5 or 6. The age will differ for every child, so don't force the issue if he's clearly not ready.

Working for More: Age 7 and up
Experts advise against tying allowance to household chores, behavior, or grades (as an award or punishment). Doing so makes it a disciplinary tool rather than a teaching tool. Similarly, your child should do regular chores and behave appropriately because she's a member of the family. She should work hard for her grades because she's motivated by a will to learn and succeed, not a few extra bucks. Finally, if her "income" fluctuates unpredictably, she can't budget effectively. That said, there is nothing wrong with kids earning extra money for extra tasks (beyond regular daily or weekly chores), just as they might when they are teens with summer jobs.

Giving a Raise: Age 10 or 11
So how much allowance should you give? Levine recommends 50 cents to a dollar for every year of age, on a weekly basis. For example, a 10 year old would receive $5 to $10 per week. As your child grows, so should his responsibility for his own discretionary spending. Keep track of what you spend on him for a couple of weeks. Then choose one or two nonessential items that you will cease paying for, such as after-school snacks, comic books, baseball cards, or iTunes downloads.
Give your child enough to allow her to make her own choices — but don't bail her out if she gets buyer's remorse. Giving her extra money when she runs out only undermines your efforts and removes the incentive to learn to manage her money.
Be sure to discuss saving and budgeting in the same breath with spending, because you don't want your child to think you're giving her free money with no strings attached. Only about 40 percent of high school students surveyed recently by the JumpStart Coalition for Financial Literacy had a savings account. Your child needs to understand the bigger picture of money management, which is largely about saving.

Helpful Tools: Age 13 and up
Given the level of technological maturity of most kids today, consider opening a prepaid debit card for your child that she can manage online. Deposit her allowance every week onto a special card created just for that purpose. Visa Buxx and the Allow Card, from MasterCard, both targeted to kids 13 and up, allow you to open a card in your child's name, and to load a preset amount of money onto the card. Your child can withdraw money from an ATM, make purchases online, and get up-to-the-minute balance information.
Look for teachable moments to talk about money. For example, the arrival of your monthly Visa bill is a perfect time to explain that credit can actually cost money, in the form of interest, if you don't pay your bill promptly.

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First Jobs and Chores

Unexpected kindness that helped me and my daughter believe in a New Year's miracle

Last year we were all together: me, my husband and daughter, were walking in the park. We have a big park in the city. And on one of its edges there is a sloping slope. There, usually in winter, the kids arrange an impromptu slide.

There were also a lot of children there that day. It was a day off, many rested and spent time in the park. The children scurried up and down the slope in a brisk manner. My daughter immediately noticed how great and fun it is to ride on cheesecakes. nine0003

My daughter started asking me to buy the same one for her. But, since it was already the very end of winter, my husband and I promised that we would definitely buy it for her, but only for the next season.

At that time everything was fine in our family and it never occurred to me that I was deceiving my child then. But, literally in a few weeks, my whole habitual life flew into the abyss.

I accidentally found out that my husband has a mistress. And their relationship has lasted for more than a month. Living with this was excruciatingly painful, and my daughter and I just went nowhere. nine0003

My financial resources have been greatly reduced. I had to pay for rent. And the tenants, for some reason, all, as one, asked for an advance payment for several months at once.

I barely tried to make ends meet, but it didn't work out very well. After all, the daughter is still a child, which means she is still growing. She needs new things for every season. The child must be properly dressed, we need something to eat.

In addition, my daughter has recommendations from an orthopedist for specialized shoes. She has been clubfoot since birth. And, accordingly, all our shoes are special orthopedic. Only winter boots for a five-year-old child cost almost six thousand. nine0003

Before, this did not bother me at all, because health is more important. But, when you choose between dressing your child for the winter, or buying him a cheesecake for skiing, then the choice is on the surface.

I really want to buy all the toys in the world, just so that my daughter does not worry that we no longer live with dad. But life is sometimes a very bad thing. I tried to explain to my daughter that we cannot afford cheesecake this year.

I have done well for her. She was not offended, she seemed to understand everything, she stopped asking to buy her a cheesecake. And so, the other day, my daughter and I walked in the same park, where a year ago she was so fired up with the dream of her own cheesecake. nine0003

And again, just like a year ago, there is skiing down the slope. My quickly got acquainted with everyone and began to ride with other children. Periodically, she waved at me and shouted loudly: “Mom, did you see how I rolled down? It was Katya who gave me a ride!

Mom, did you see how fast? Nikita has such a fast cheesecake! And fifteen minutes passed like that. At that time, I vigilantly watched so that my daughter would in no case offend any of the other guys and did not take anything from anyone by force. nine0003

I was so ashamed in front of my child. I certainly did not want to blush in front of other parents. And then a young man comes up to me: “Sorry, for such a question, but do you have any cheesecake at all, or did you just leave it at home?”.

I was all tense from such a question. I have already begun to scroll through myself that, probably, one of the guys who let my daughter ride, complained to his father and now ...

But I didn’t seem to go anywhere. I did not see any tears, screams and other attributes of the conflict. Therefore, after a little awkward silence, I said that we don’t have any cheesecake at all. nine0003

“May I give it to your daughter then? We just have two. It so happened that we got another one from our nephew, but we do not use it at all. I've been driving it in the car for several days now, it just gets in the way.

Already offered to all my friends, but everyone has it, and no one agrees.” I was only able to squeeze out the word “you can” and the man ran into the car for a cheesecake.

I had a lump in my throat, tears rolled up and I can’t say anything. A couple of minutes later, the man returned with a cheesecake in his hands. I called my daughter. The stranger squatted in front of her and said: nine0003

"Santa Claus had a lot to do, but he asked me to give you a present." My daughter looks at me and asks “can I?”, I could only nod. She happily grabbed an unexpected gift and rushed back to the guys shouting:

“Look what Santa Claus gave me! I now also have my own cheesecake! And I stand and try to hide the tears somehow. I thanked this man a hundred times.

And he just laughed: “I should be grateful to you! Finally got rid of her! She put her daughter to bed in the evening, and she began to cry again. I don’t know from happiness or from the stress of recent months. But I am so grateful to this random kind person! He helped me at least a little to believe again that life can still get better. nine0003

Articles from readers are published under the heading "Opinion of readers".

What Vladimir Putin said for the New Year

Appeal to the citizens of Russia.

“Dear citizens of Russia! Dear friends!

It was a year of difficult, necessary decisions, the most important steps towards gaining the full sovereignty of Russia and the powerful consolidation of our society.

It was a year that put a lot in its place, clearly separated courage and heroism from betrayal and cowardice, showed that there is no higher power than love for one's relatives and friends, loyalty to friends and comrades, devotion to one's Fatherland. nine0003

It was a year of truly pivotal, fateful events. They have become the frontier that lays the foundation for our common future, our true independence.

This is what we are fighting for today, protecting our people on our own historical territories in the new constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Together we build and create.

The main thing is the fate of Russia. Defense of the Motherland is our sacred duty to our ancestors and descendants. Moral, historical correctness is on our side. nine0003

The outgoing year has brought great, cardinal changes both for our country and for the whole world. It was filled with excitement, anxieties and worries.

But our multinational people, as it was in all the difficult eras of Russian history, showed courage and dignity, in word and deed supported the defenders of the Fatherland, our soldiers and officers, all participants in the special military operation.

We have always known, and today we are again convinced that the sovereign, independent, secure future of Russia depends only on us, on our strength and will. nine0003

For years, the Western elites hypocritically assured all of us of their peaceful intentions, including the resolution of the most difficult conflict in Donbas. In fact, neo-Nazis were encouraged in every possible way, who continued to conduct military, openly terrorist actions against civilians of the people's republics of Donbass.

The West lied about peace, but was preparing for aggression, and today it admits it openly, without hesitation, and they cynically use Ukraine and its people to weaken and split Russia. We have never and never allowed anyone to do this. nine0003

Russian servicemen, militias, volunteers are now fighting for their native land, for truth and justice, for guarantees of peace and security for Russia to be reliably provided. They are all our heroes. They are the hardest now.

I heartily congratulate all the participants of the special military operation on the coming New Year, those who are now here, next to me, who are on the front line and at the front lines, who are being trained in training centers in order to then join the battle, who are in hospitals or, having performed his duty, has already returned home, all those who are on combat duty in strategic units, the entire personnel of the Armed Forces! nine0003

Dear comrades, thank you for your valiant service! Our entire vast country is proud of your fortitude, stamina and courage. Millions of people heart and soul are with you, and toasts in your honor will definitely sound at the New Year's table.

Many thanks to everyone who provides military operations: drivers and railway workers who supply the front, doctors, paramedics, nurses and nurses who are fighting for the lives of soldiers, nursing wounded civilians. I thank the workers and engineers of our military and other factories who are working today with full dedication, the builders who are building civilian facilities and defensive fortifications, helping to restore the destroyed cities and villages of Donbass and Novorossia. nine0003

Since 2014, after the events in Crimea, Russia has been living under sanctions, but this year a real sanctions war has been declared on us. Those who started it expected the complete destruction of our industry, finances, and transport.

This did not happen, because together we created a reliable margin of safety. What we have done and are doing in this area is all aimed at strengthening our sovereignty in the most important area - in the economy. And our struggle for ourselves, for our interests and for our future, of course, serves as an inspiring example for other states in their pursuit of a just multipolar world order. nine0003

I consider it very important that in the past year such qualities as mercy, solidarity and active responsiveness have acquired special significance among our people. More and more citizens feel the need to help others. They unite themselves, without any formal instructions.

I want to thank you for your sensitivity, responsibility and kindheartedness, for the fact that you, people of different ages and incomes, are actively involved in the common cause, organizing warehouses and transport in order to deliver parcels to our soldiers in the combat zone, to the affected residents of cities and towns, send for the rest of children from new subjects of the Federation. nine0003

You, my dear ones, provide great support to the families of the fallen soldiers. They gave their lives to protect the lives of others.

I understand how difficult it is now, on New Year's Eve, for their wives, sons, daughters, their parents, who raised real heroes. We will do everything possible to help the families of our fallen comrades raise their children, give them a decent education, and get a profession.

I share your pain with all my heart and ask you to accept sincere words of support. nine0003

At any time, even very difficult ones, the onset of the New Year was celebrated in our country. It was and remains a favorite holiday for everyone and has a magical gift to reveal the best features in people, to increase the significance of traditional, family values, the energy of generosity, generosity and trust.

Celebrating the New Year, everyone strives to please loved ones, warm them with attention and warmth, give them what they dreamed of, see delight in the eyes of children, feel how touchingly grateful for our attention parents, the older generation - they know how to appreciate these lightning bolts of happiness. nine0003

Friends, now is the best time to leave all personal grievances and misunderstandings in the past, to tell the dearest people about your tender feelings, about love, about how important it is to take care of each other - always, at any time.