I ask after the oldest (nine) asked if she could start earning money by doing jobs around the house.
My instinctive reaction was no, she shouldn’t be paid for doing jobs around the house because we all live in it so we’re all responsible for the running of it.
After all, nobody pays me to peel soggy cheerios off the living room carpet or wipe wee off the toilet bowl – and other unmentionable places. If only!
But on the other hand, simply handing over pocket money (something we’ve managed to escape until now) isn’t really teaching her anything either. At least by doing a chore or two in exchange for cash she’s earning it, and therefore learning something about the value of money.
Which begs the question: should I pay my kids to do chores? I asked some fellow parenting bloggers for their thoughts and their different approaches make an interesting read!
Should I pay my kids to do chores?
“My kids get pocket money, but not for chores,” says Claire at Life, Love and Dirty Dishes. “We felt the chores was just something they had to do. With my youngest it’s a simple case of tidying his room before bed. If it’s not tidy, there’s no bedtime story. He’s not missed a story yet. My eldest does a few more bits, like dusting, or putting laundry away. He knows he doesn’t get his hour on his Xbox until his chores are done. There is no monetary reward for jobs that just have to be done, and those jobs have to be done before we get to do fun stuff. It works well for us, and they still learn the value of money through saving their pocket money.”
“We don’t give pocket money for chores – chores are just expected to be done!” says Talya at Motherhood: The Real Deal. “Pocket money is given every week unless some truly bad behaviour is going on! I think pocket money does actually teach them the value of money because it teaches them how to save and the relative power of the money they have. I find that since my daughter has been givenΒ pocket money (we started around the age of five at just 20p, then we increased to 50p age six and now she is at Β£1 once a week) she has become much more aware about the value of money and how much the things she wants cost. She incredibly even gave up some of her moneyΒ recently to donate to a homeless charity this year entirely off her own back, and I have also had to borrow money off her occasionally (as I never seem to have cash to hand), as well as pay her back which in itself is a great lesson.”
“We have noticed the girls asking for stuff more so just started giving them small money amounts for little jobs at the weekend. Twenty pence, 50p here and there,” says Sarah at Mum Muddling Through. “They realised that it was never going to buy them what they wanted quickly so we have encouraged them to spend it in charity shops or eBay to encourage them to think about value for money and also a bit of sustainable spending! Giving old stuffΒ a new home etcetera. Itβs win win.”
“When it comes to chores we would never give them money for something they should really do anyway,” says Nigel at DIY Daddy Blog. “I always tell them itβs a life lesson that they will use when they are older and living away from mum and dad, also I make a point that Iβm not their slave.”
Rightly or wrongly, the upshot is we’re now paying the oldest 50p a day to take the recycling down from our flat to the recycling bins outside – and I don’t know about you but I think that’s quite a good rate!
What do you think? Do you pay your kids to do chores, or do you simply give them pocket money? I’d love to know where you stand!
I never paid my kids for doing chores, as they would do them for the wrong reasons, I just thanked them for helping, #dreamteam@_karendennis
I think paying the kids to do chores around the house teaches them that they have to work to earn money. They tidy their bedrooms without payment because that is their space but helping to put the washing out or hoovering up will earn them money. x
I think paying kids to to chores in the safety of their own home is a great lesson to instil good work ethics xx #dreamteam
My children earn pocket money for a range of things, some of which are chores. I want them to value jobs around the house so they appreciate the hard work that goes into keeping a household functioning as well as paid work. Thanks for linking up with #dreamteamlinky
50p a day is definitely a good rate! Ours are a bit young for this yet, although the five year old gets the odd 50p here and there for certain one off things. He ‘saves’ up for new toys. Although he doesn’t seem capable of getting beyond a tenner yet before it’s burning a hole in his pocket. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time”
Our boys are adults now, but when they were younger, we also wrestled with whether pocket money should be for chores or not. From a friend I learned her philosophy, which was they are being paid for what they do, which is be a student. So, that’s what we did, but we deducted from the total for chores not done or a lot of disobedience. We didn’t want to pay for chores, because we ourselves weren’t being paid for chores we did. That’s just what one does living in a house/home. If they excelled in school, they got a bonus.
I never did pay for my kids for chores but we would have season jobs or extra jobs that we’d offer to pay them for if they wanted to help out. I often struggled with not wanting to pay them for things I thought they should be doing anyway but still wanted them to learn how to manage and budget money too. Somehow they learned both lessons though. #MMBC
Its a hard balance to find. There are some things that my daughter does because its her job – keeping her room clean, putting away her clothes after I wash them, ect. There are other things that she does, dusting the baseboards, washing windows, that I give her money for and try to use as a way to get her to appreciate its value and teach her to save. #KCACOLS
I think 50p a job is a very reasonable rate xx #KCACOLS
My daughter is too young for pocket money or to be paid for chores, but I think it is a good way to teach them about money and instill that sense that you need to work to earn money. Things don’t come for free and money doesn’t grow on trees π Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time.