How much allowance does your 16 yr old get?

[FannyIsNotMyAunt]

As above. Our DS gets £50 a month which is is purely for his own enjoyment, we pay for his phone, clothes and everything else he needs. Thinking about increasing it as he's now at Sixth Form College and interested to know what others do. Thanks.

Mine has a job/apprenticeship
His pay is his.
We don’t charge him any board.

We are very very lucky though I think.

Mine is doing A levels and although the plan was always for him to get s job, its not so easy at the moment.

My DD gets her phone paid for , £20 for clothes (I buy any uniform or shoes) and £15 to spend as she pleases.
If her Dad gets his wages deducted for maintenance I give her a bit extra.
She always runs out but my DS managed to save on the same amounts.

He doesn't get an allowance as such from us, he is fortunate to a have a part time job. He is good at managing his money to save for things he wants. I do give him money if he's heading out with his mates and they're getting pizza for eg or if he's buying something I would sometimes pay for it. He never expects money so when he does get something bought for him he's really appreciative.

My 16 year old gets £50 a month. She also has a part time job and earns £30 a week from it (maybe £60-80 in a school holiday week as she is able to do extra hours if available)
I will buy the basic toiletries for the family and if she wants anything specific that I don’t buy she needs to buy it herself.
I ensure she has a basic weather appropriate wardrobe/shoes/coat that fit and in good condition, anything above this she buys herself (I also refuse to pay more than £70 for trainers- the last ones to replace old ones she wanted were £90 so she paid the additional £20)
I pay for her phone contact of £30 a month. She is in college, one day a week at the moment and 2/3 days a week she has zoom classes and self directed study- I pay her bus money to college (£3) and collect her as I’m not working at that time. I also send her £5 for lunch as she likes to use the catering at college.

She has a Lot of money compared to her friends but that is because she was lucky enough to find a job. She does save well though and has about £280 saved (she wanted to get a ticket for Hamilton and Six so is saving that for when they reopen and she can go!)

I pay £35 phone contract and buy him clothes occasionally. I also out a grand ten pounds into his account every month as I never cancelled it from when he was younger. His dad who has never paid CMS gives him £50 a month. I give him cash adhoc but prob not more than £15 a month and tbh that's normally when I tell him to grab some food cos I'm not cooking! He earns about £80-110 a month through refereeing. He tends to have more money than most of his friends and buys pretty much what he wants but he has a great work ethic. Becoming a referee turned out to be a great move for him, not many 15 year olds earn 20 pound an hour!

Thanks for the replies.

My daughter has the child benefit so £80 and has to buy her own clothes, friends birthday presents etc.

I pay her phone contract and lunches on top.

We live in a rural area so very difficult to find a job.

We were giving DD1 £7.50 a week, but she turned 16 in August and with that and starting sixth form, we've now moved to an allowance of £60 monthly paid on the first day of the month. We also pay for a phone contract, £5 a month (low data allowance - she can access WiFi most places she would use it) and as a pp said, we've said we would buy major clothing things like decent coat, shoes, boring essentials, and I'll probably still put some toiletries in the family online shop; I also keep some money topped up in her school account for the canteen.

Other than that, she is now responsible for buying her own clothing where it's things she likes rather than needs, books, school supplies etc.

£45 per month by standing order but we buy her essential clothes, travel and give £5 -10 for food if she’s with friends over a meal time and they’re going for a pizza or something. We’d also pay things like cinema. I guess we’re fairly generous and it all adds up but her mental health isn’t strong enough for her to have a job and we’re just relived that she’s socialising and recovering from some big stuff.

We do build in extra chores if she wants something in particular ( she can earn extra allowance by washing car etc).

*Relieved

My 16yo’s allowance is €55 per month paid by standing order. Still pay for phone, school food and essentials.

It was £50 per month until they started sixth form, then i increased it to £70 but expect that to cover any school snacks or lunches if they dont make a packed lunch.
So £70 covers clothes, friends presents, occasional busses, school snacks, etc. DD1 has fewer friends that she buys for, only buys second hand clothes, and nearly always makes a packed lunch, so tends to have more in her bank account than DD2. Also, there are not really any cinema or csfe trips with friends at the moment.

At 16 my DD had £75/month plus I paid for her phone, bus pass, school meals, school related costs, extra curricular activities (which didn't last long past 16 tbh) and inevitably any shoes/clothes/coats she needed that she couldn't afford on £75/month. Damn kids are expensive

Mine got £50, increased to £120 when they started university

Did used to get £50 a month from us but we paid for her phone and most clothes. It was just for going out, coffees, socialising etc.
She didn't have a PT at our bequest - we wanted her to be able to focus on school but mainly gaining plenty of relevant work experience needed for her university course in her spare time.

She's now at university form this week so it has gone up substantially.

My son gets £50 a month.

He buys his clothes if he wants expensive brands and we buy the basics he needs when he's grown out of things. He also uses this for going out although he's not someone who's out every weekend.

We pay for his train fare (£15 per week) and phone (£15 per month) and gym (£13 per month)

This is a really helpful thread. My DD is 14 next year and we're wondering about giving her an allowance then. I was thinking of about £40 a month to include clothes, socialising, presents for friends, transport for social events (bus), haircuts and books she wants/ other small things but it sounds like we'd be giving her less than the norm. Or are the people who've responded here giving more than the norm? Am I being realistic with this budget? She has been trying to get a paper round but there's nothing going here at the moment and she's too young for any other job.

DS1 gets £80 a month from us and around £80 a month from his Saturday morning job.
Out of that he pays for
his £10 phone top up,
college lunches,
clothes- we buy coats, shoes and underwear,
haircuts (he never gets is cut though!),
if he's asked to pick up any groceries for the family from town he pays- DH nothing major milk/rice/cheese,
Socialising.

He worked a lot during lockdown and the summer holidays so has built up a decent amount of savings.

We pay £80 a month for his music lessons and Spotify premium which he uses.

I honestly think these amounts/ responses are from families who are comfortably off. I’m professional public sector - DH earns 6 figure salary but there’s no way we’d spoil either of our dds as they need to know value of money. We have assets but we are not big spenders at all.

^ in response to hernamewasEliza

Nothing, she has a weekend job.

Or are the people who've responded here giving more than the norm? Am I being realistic with this budget?
Most of DS's friends are eligible to claim the EMA which gives them £30 a week, we were influenced by this.

We gave much less at 14 but he had fewer expenses too.

£40 per month
I pay for college stuff, clothes & shoes when needed, and phone bill.
I pay for food at college, but anything they buy off campus (McDs) they have to pay for themselves.

I have suggested a job, but it’s tough at the moment.