How much allowance to kids get?

I never had an allowance. My parents gave me money for specific things, sometimes. I eventually started working, that was the first time I had money just for whatever. (This was when I was 16 or something, child labor laws y'know.)

I'm struggling with this one for sozlet -- whether to do it, when to start, how much, for what -- so will be interested in replies here.

When i was little, I would get 2 dollars every 2 weeks.

If I wanted to boost that I had to do more chores.

The 2 dollars was just a basic allowance, not necessarily tied to chores.

I had chores and so long as I did them, I would get the 2 dollars.

Even if I did them really halfassed..

I do not recall that ever being taken away for NOT doing them... ?
It was boosting the basic amount that required more work.

When I was little- meaning starting first grade- I got a weekly allowance of about the same value as a large ice cream or 3 bars of a small choclate.
This wasn't tied to any chores.
I could spent the money or save it- it was "my" money. But if I saved a nice sum to buy an extra toy sometimes my mother would double the amount I had saved.

Chores were never paid- family members were just asked to take over jobs which had to be done. My job was setting the table for lunch and dinner, dry the dishes, and put away all shoes. That become more the older I got.

Every 2 years the allowance was increased. In my teens I got a monthly sum, rather high- but this I had to use to buy school things and clothing ( if I wanted more than my parents would buy). At that time I was asked also to keep a kind of record.Not that my parents controlled it, just to get the idea where the money went.

When I was little (between 5-7) we had a wood stove which was our only source of heat and my bother and I got $1 every time the wood was delivered and we stacked it up in the wood shed.
I also remember my grandfather giving us pop bottles to cash in.
When we got older and moved to a house that didn't heat with wood, we did yard work, take out the trash, shoveled snow, etc.
I finally became a paper girl when I was 12 and that was the end of my allowance days :-)

my parents would give me dimes or quarters for each chore done. i would keep a list of every chore and got paid every weekend when i turned the list in.

i did something in reverse for my own children. i gave them a fixed allowance. every week i kept a list with the name of each child. i would give each child a check mark when they disobeyed or otherwise misbehaved. a certain amount of money was deducted from their weekly allowance for each check mark.

(as a child and later as a parent, it was always me who kept a list.)

We've implemented a token economy. Yaya gets poker chips for things like not having accidents and being still and quiet at nap time.

She can trade them in for things like an extra night-time story, a trip to the zoo, watching Sesame Street, etc.

I had an allowance when I was kid - can't remember exactly how much, but it wasn't tied to chores. I did have chores I had to do, but it wasn't related at all to my allowance. I never had my allowance taken away as a punishment either - typically I would be grounded.

Often times I would get extra money or perhaps a present for getting good grades, but besides that I wouldn't get extra money for doing additional chores. If, however, I needed money for something extra - like going some where special with a friend, I simply had to ask and sometimes I would be given the money.

Since the money wasn't a huge amount - I saved some and spent the rest on stuff like candy. I did consider myself a saver as whenever I got money for a birthday I would put it in the bank (for college). As I got older and started to work - I would save most of my money and take out a small amount for movies, roller skating, etc. My parents always paid for my clothes and basic necessities.

That's a cool idea DD! Stuff she can identify with. (does she keep a little emergency fund stashed away for when she's been naughty? Hehehe, I didn't eat my smashed taters, but I've got an extra poker chip somewheres around here….)

How old is Yaya?

I like the idea for a young child to have some type of task attached to an allowance, but not necessarily how well it's done on any particular occasion.

When adults go to work, sometimes we have genius days, other times we aren't as productive, but we still get paid. It's only if we consistently do poorly that we risk loosing our paychecks.

I figure it teaches a kid to tie into the fact that some days you may forget the napkins when setting the table, but in generally they do pretty good.

GOSH Wandell, that sure is a different way of doing it. Didn't your kids feel forced into being good rather than just being, well, good for goodness sake?

from the age of 5 to 10 I was paid to not come home, the longer I stayed away the more $ I got.

I heard my kids say to each other: "I don't like this check mark thing, do you?"

(I at least got their attention.)

Last week my daughter had misssions week at school. Basically each day the talked about a different area in Africa and some days had guest speakers from a mission in Africa. They learned about the culture, schools, etc. They also encouraged children to do extra chores to earn money they could donate to these children. I "paid" my daughter money each day for being extra good and helpful - including being nice to her little sister.

Never did get allowance. Well, sort of, but it was always in the form of getting paid for specific jobs.

Basic things around the house and 'kid' responsibilities were not included. You had to do that. I'd get maybe a dollar or more depending on the job: helping with the snowshoveling, or racking, or gathering branches, or helping mom make a million cakes (she did a lot of catering). I remember I had a huge glass container that I put all my money in: work money, stuff from older relatives, etc. I saved for a kiddie pool table! Man, happiest day ever to go to Canadian Tire and buy that thing. This was in the mid to late 80's. I was usually saving for big purchases I couldn't con my parents into buying (we didn't have a lot of money anyhoo).

Extended family is huge. By 9 I was getting paid for babysitting and helping in family restaurants/catering. Awesome. Made my own little spending money til I got 'a regular job'. Set up a bank account at 12.

I also never had allowance as a kid. We got lunch money, and that was it. Sometimes I skipped lunch and kept the money.

We've just started talking about allowance with my kids. So far the plan is that my son has three weekly chores (to be determined) for three dollars a week (he's 6). My daughter (4) enjoys feeding the cats, so for that she will get one dollar a week. I don't expect my daughter to do anything with it except put it in her piggy bank, but my son is into Pokemon cards so the plan is that he will use his own money for those. We're still trying to come up with good chores for him so if anyone has any good ideas, please bring 'em.

Some of the stuff sozlet does (but not all the time):

- Set the table
- Dust (Swiffer dust thingies are pretty foolproof)
- Keep her desk area clean (including vacuuming if she spills anything)
- Keep her room clean/ make her bed
- Help fold clothes (especially easy stuff like towels and washcloths)

Hmm, that's all I can think of.

I think maybe dusting and folding clothes are the only things that would be chore-chores as opposed to just what's expected, but that's something else I'm not sure of, the definition of a chore. (I mean, like, brushing teeth isn't a chore, right?)

Yeah, that's the problem, separating things that are just expected (put your dirty clothes in the hamper, brush your teeth, go to bed on time) with things that deserve reward. We've done short term rewards for expected things just to get them into the habit of having new responsibilities, but this is different.

Dusting he can definitely do. He also likes to wash the windows and mirrors with glass cleaner, so I'll add that. And setting the table is something he can do. Hey, that's three right there. Thanks!

Beginning when I was five, I got as many Deutsche Marks per month as the number of years I was old. (A DM of 1975 is about a dollar of 2006. Maybe a little less.) I like allowances because they teach kids to make their own choices.

The best idea I have seen so far is to set a price for household chores and negotiate every half year or so which chores a child is willing to do for the money. I like that even better than what I had because it teaches children to make their own choices both on the earning side and the spending side.

I couldn't agree more. It's something I wish I had learned before adulthood.

I never even thought about your second point that way -- that kids get to make earnings choices. That's a very interesting take.

When I turned 10, I started getting my allowance by the month rather than by the week--very educational.

I agree that an allowance teaches about spending and saving, to make choices, how to create a "budget plan", and long term planning.
But has an allowance to be tied to a chore? I mean each member of a family has some responsibilities, feeding a pet, helping with every day life ( setting the table, dusting, fetching the paper, clean out the dishwasher etc) is not a chore, it is part of living together.
To earn money is something different. That would be an extra job, which I would offer and the child can decide if it wants the task and the payment.
An allowance is just free, my sharing of the means I have.
At least I understood and so did my children that there is work which isn't paid and sometimes can't be paid- but that in a way we all depend on each other.