Seeing as how I don't have children who are at the age where I can assign them chores, this post may seem a bit irrelevant for me, but it's not. The issue crops up in children's books and in conversations with other parents, and even in movies. I'm talking about chores and allowance. More specifically what is an allowance for and why should or shouldn't children receive it.
There seems to be two primary arguments for not giving children allowance. The first is that they should do their chores simply because they are part of the family. They should not be paid for doing them. The second is the parents saying "my child has what he needs and he does not need any money." They cite several reasons that I've heard for not giving the child an allowance in this second argument. I've heard parents say, "It's my money and my child doesn't need it," "I don't want my child to learn to value money. It's not that important," "My child doesn't need to learn how manage money until he's older," things of that nature.
There are a couple reasons I don't understand either argument. For the first one my question is simply this, why wouldn't you pay your child a small allowance as a reward for doing his required chores? Ok, I get it, chores are a part of life. But so is work. You go to work to earn money. I mean, how well would it fly with you if your boss said to you "you should do your work and do it perfectly simply because you're part of the company. We shouldn't have to pay you to do it." It wouldn't fly with me that's for sure. Neither does it fly with me that I should expect my child to do his chores with little to no motivation other than "you're part of this family." If my dad had said that to me my response would have been something along the lines of "yippee freakin' skippee." For sure children should be taught to help cheerfully and out of the goodness of their hearts on top of their listed chores, but there's nothing wrong at all with paying or rewarding a child for completing their required chores on time (provided they are done well).
The second argument just sounds ridiculous to me. There is no reason your child shouldn't start learning about the value of money at a young age. And if you as a parent just provide whatever they want or need for them without them having to learn to work for it is just a bad idea. That's how you get spoiled children who don't know the value of a dollar. In my opinion anyway.
What do you think about allowances?
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We've thought about this too. I think we will do allowances, small at first, but increase with age - the older and more chores, the more $. I think it is a good incentive and will help them know the value of a dollar and will hopefully help them learn how to manage money in the long-run.
ReplyDeleteI think allowances are great. A gal told me the other day about a family who gives their teenagers an expense/work account(to pay their tithing,car insurance,sports...etc..)in order realize they value of money.
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah!! Here is my take, I love the idea of kids having an allowance. But I want to use it as a teaching moment- the allowance is more than a reward, it's a lesson on the value of money, how to give, save and spend. I also want to teach our children how to "earn" money- while balancing doing things because you're suppose to. Our plan right now (it could change) is to have certain chores that are expected as a family member who lives in this house to do with out being paid. We will have additional chores that aren't expected- but are "extra" that would be rewarded with money. This is well into the future and with Dustin and I growing up in the country it's hard for us to know what these chores will be here in the city. At this time- that's where we stand :)
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