Jobs for pocket money

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My 5 year old has started to take an interest in money and the concept of buying the things he wants himself, a magazines, sweets or general tat he spots in the pound shop. I'm thinking about starting to give pocket money but ideally don't want it to be linked to household chores that should be expected within the family but I do like the idea that money needs to be earnt. Here's my dilemma...how can a 5yo earn his pocket money without it being linked to everyday chores? ,

At 5, I don't think you can. He's only earning money if you are genuinely paying for something that they can do independently (i.e. it's not more hassle for you to supervise than do it yourself) that you might actually pay money to someone for.

By secondary school age you can pay for things like gardening and decorating (things that we wouldn't expect as part of day to day chores). At 5, you are either paying him for something you expect him to do anyway, or making experiences about money (e.g helping with the cooking - it's not really "helping" , it's learning a life skill which is the "earning" that he's getting).

You have to find a job that exceeds normal, everyday chores.

For example, normal chores for a five years old might be putting his laundry away/setting and clearing the table/tidying toys/tidying bedroom/making bed.

Extra, 'paid', chores might be collecting everyone's laundry and bringing it downstairs/feeding the dog or cat/emptying the dishwasher/tidying up a younger siblings toys/helping put the shopping away/sweeping the garden/helping to clean the car.

A good way to do it is to give each job a price and let him choose what he wants to do.
Feed the dog: 10p
Collect the laundry: 50p
Tidy the baby's toys at the end of the day: 30p

Have a list up and then he can do some, none or all of the available jobs and earn in line with the effort he puts in.

Oh this is really hard! Anything they can do, are things you want them to do not in exchange for money. It has to come from beyond the stuff they normally do. what are their normal chores? I think you need to introduce them first if you don’t have them already, things like making their own bed, putting their plate in the sink just things that show them that everyone uses the house so everyone maintains the house.
then chores can be ‘extras’ could they ‘help’ wash the car? or take responsibility for something like cooking a particularly nice dinner with you?
I feel like things like feeding the dog should be things that they do for ‘free’ because that’s just how you care for animals, and it’s important to learn that it’s the right thing to do rather than something you only do in exchange to get something back.

id be tempted to say that if you generally help out and be a good person in the house that contributes, and you work hard at school, then that’s your ‘job’ and I’ll just give you money rather than it being directly tied to specific chores. I appreciate that has its own flaws too and isn’t a perfect system though,

You see, I can't see how a 5 year old can do any of the jobs on that list without supervision or to the standard required without extra adult help.

I'd also hesitate to monetise these jobs because, although you might not expect them as "normal" at age 5, they are definitely "normal" at an older age, and I think it's a difficult conversation to explain that you used to pay for x job, but you now expect them just to do it for no money.

Also, I think the idea that you pay for quite normal jobs that are just above the bare minimum expected, feeds the view that "general helping out" and "doing things that need to be done" should be paid for. Don't know about you, but no one pays me for doing odd extra tasks around the house that aren't actually my "job".

If your five year old can't collect laundry from a laundry basket and bring it downstairs or tidy a baby's toys into a toy basket or sweep up leaves or empty a dishwasher then you need to encourage more independence because they're all easily achievable by an average five year old (and all things that my four year old does).

Feeding the dog/cat does depend on what food you use. I'd expect a five year old to be able to handle dry food, but not wet food.

They may need adult help for some dishwasher items (glasses, things that live in high cupboards, for example) but I fail to see why that is a problem. It's still helpful if someone does 90% of the dishwasher for you. Plus, it's not really about paying someone to do jobs for you to make your life easier. It's about teaching kids about working hard and earning money as a result. You're 'finding' jobs for them to do for their benefit, not yours.

Don't know about you, but no one pays me for doing odd extra tasks around the house that aren't actually my "job".

No, but I'm not five. I'm treated completely differently to a five year old in almost every way. I think that's normal in most families tbh.

If your five year old can't collect laundry from a laundry basket and bring it downstairs or tidy a baby's toys into a toy basket or sweep up leaves or empty a dishwasher then you need to encourage more independence because they're all easily achievable by an average five year old (and all things that my four year old does).

Our laundry all goes in one basket. It's too heavy for a 5 year old. I don't want a 5 year old going up and downstairs and bringing it down piecemeal (probably dropping bits on the way).

Tidying toys to the point of just throwing everything in a basket, is a "normal" job anyway - I assumed this was talking about a greater level of sorting out.

5 year old could do leaf sweeping but not the point that it would be good enough that an adult didn't finish the job up.

Our cupboards are too high for a 5 year old to reach, so they can't unload the dishwasher (and I wouldn't want them climbing on a step stool with breakables).

I don't have a 5 year old by the way, but my (much older) children had unloading the dishwasher, gardening, laundry on their "standard" jobs list from when they old enough to do them without adult supervision. And they tidied (generally, not just their own stuff, from the age when they could sit up and drop toys in a basket i.e. a few months old).

I think paying children for jobs that they can't really do properly, rather than encouraging them to help in a supported way so they can learn, and understand that these are things they have to learn to do for themselves, is a bad mindset to instill. Different to paying a much older child for a job that they can do independently (and that you might actually pay an adult to do for you).

But you understand that different people have different homes and setups? So whilst a five year old couldn't carry your laundry or empty your dishwasher it's not something that is unattainable for a five year old generally.

You understand also that the suggestions were for the OP and her five year old who may have low cupboards, a dog that eats dry food and separate laundry baskets? Or maybe not, these are just suggestion of the kind of things a child of that age could do to earn pocket money.

The OP is looking for ideas that her five year old can do now. He isn't going to be able to do a job that an adult can because he isn't an adult. Paying him to decorate is something that she can do down the line maybe, not now.

I'll agree to disagree on the rest, that's just difference of opinion and tbh I don't think it really matters either way. I'm sure both the OP's child and your children will grow up to be delightful adults whether they were paid to do little jobs or not. They'll have had different experiences and learnt different skills in a different order as a result. They'll all get there in the end!

We gave £1 a week at that age. It wasn't tied to chores or behaviour, it was always given. It taught them so much about the values of different coins, the importance of saving if you want something, and just that it's fun and pretty nice to have a little bit of money to spend however you like - something that probably applies to everyone!

Ironically you were the one not realising that people had different set-ups when you accused me of stilting my children's independence :)

I agree we clearly have different perspectives.
I don't believe in paying for jobs as I see them part of living in the house and a general growing up experience.
You like to pay your child for doing things that you see as beyond their "normal" jobs.

I do think the important thing (whether you pay them or not) is that your child is encouraged to take on chores around the house. There are way too many threads on MN bemoaning the fact that the poster's teens do nothing. It is much easier to get into good habits when they are 5, than when they are 15. And you need to continually enforce and build your expectations of what your child is expected to do at any age. Just because they can't do it at 5, doesn't mean they can't at 6 or 7 or ...

My 6 year old waters the plants and collects in the fruit, tomatoes, chillies etc.
He'll do ad hoc other bits like stripping the covers off the cat bed and putting it in the machine (I set it up) , this morning he got two bags and emptied all of the rubbish from the car into one and all of the stuff that had been left in there into the other, he then put his items away and left mine and dh's stuff in two piles for us to do (a lot of it was DS)
Occasionally he'll come grocery shopping with me and reads the list and fetches things from the shelves.
He has other jobs that are expected regardless of pocket money, making his bed, tidying his room making sure his laundry is in the basket not on the floor!

ETA he gets £3 a week

You like to pay your child for doing things that you see as beyond their "normal" jobs.

I don't actually. I was just giving advice to the OP about HER situation.

I do think the important thing (whether you pay them or not) is that your child is encouraged to take on chores around the house. There are way too many threads on MN bemoaning the fact that the poster's teens do nothing. It is much easier to get into good habits when they are 5, than when they are 15. And you need to continually enforce and build your expectations of what your child is expected to do at any age. Just because they can't do it at 5, doesn't mean they can't at 6 or 7 or ...

I agree fully with all of this.

We gave a set amount each week and had a list of chores in the kitchen that could earn them more money such as dusting. They didn’t get paid for jobs they should do anyway such as putting dirty clothes in the washing bin or putting their toys away.

DS has chores he’s expected to do (pick stuff up after himself/take his plate out/make his bed, as well as general little chores when they come up) but if he wants to earn money I just think up other chores for him I wouldn’t ordinarily ask him to do (organise the books/clean the lower counter drawers in the kitchen/hang washing on the airer) - there’s always something to be done! It’s a nice balance and he still knows he needs to chip in and do his part on the house without everything being an exchange/‘deal’.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and what works for your family. I'll come up with a little list of jobs for him to 'earn' some money so he understands the concept while also remembering that he is only 5 and not everything needs to be a lesson in life!