Do you give your children pocket money?

[knittedbreast]

If so how much and what age?

I used to give my 5 yr old 10p a week (i know, but the idea was that if he kept his room tidy on friday after school he could buy a couple of penny sweets)

the idea was to show him you have to work for things, give him some responcibility and also to get his used to doing jobs.

Do you give your children pocket money? do they have to do anything for it?

£5 for 12yr old

£3.50 for 8yr old

They don't do anything for it but if they misbehave, it gets docked.

I expect them to keep their rooms clean regardless of any pocket money but they can somtimes earn extra cash for helping with the gardening or doing other odd jobs over and above normal chores.

Yes,
DD1 (12) gets £7 a week
DS1 (11) gets £6 a week
DD2 (7) gets £3 a week
DS2 (5) gets £2 a week
DD3 (3) gets £1.50 a week

They don't have to do anything for it but I do expect them to save up for holiday spending money.

10p?!!
My 4 year old gets £3 each week. He saves a £1 a week in his money box and spends the rest at charity shops/car boots/whatever. I was always taught to save from an early age and he does it very willingly.
I don't like rewarding him with money for doing chores.

Like worraliberty mine also earn extra for chores above bedroom tidying. They also get extra for good school reports or mega achievements.

I am just about to start giving my 8 year old pocket money. She was allowed to spend her birthday money as she liked on holiday and enjoyed the responsibility and felt grown up, so I have decided to start with £2.00 per week if she behaves well during the week ( non-payable if she did something really drastic!) I think it will do her good to save/spend on what she wants

No, i don't give my DC pocket money yet, though i am thinking about it.

Really chuffs me that people expect their children to buy their own clothes, and Family Allowance is £20 per week per child not £14. A decent pair of trainers cost £50.

i dont give my ds2 pocket money hes 4 ,if he needs anything i just get it for him ,hes non verbal anyhow and has sn too :)

dd is 9 and gets £2.50 per week.

i personally don't like the idea of paying her to do chores, if i want her to do something around the house then i expect it done because she is part of the family, rather than because i am paying her to do it.

Stranded like parents who buy their children clothes for christmas and birthdays?!! Never understood that either.

My DD is 3 so doesn't get pocket money yet. I might start once she starts at school at 5yo.

I don't see any problem with teenagers being expected to buy their own clothes if they are being given the child benefit (which is only £20 for the first child, subsequent children get £13-14.) The alternative could be to reduce the pocket money and mum buys all the clothes. I know as a teen I would have preferred to buy my own clothes as I saw fit.

Ds1 is 5 and has just started getting £1 per week. He doesn't have to do anything for it (and we don't dock it for bad behavior yet but will do when he is older) .

We started giving pocket money cause his birthday is very near to Christmas so his year is x2 toys in a short space of time then nothing for 11 months. Now he can save up and buy things throughout the year - has just saved up for a water pistol.

My children never got pocket money, they did however get everything bought for them as a parent should provide clothes/shoes/toiletries for their children no matter what, they got money for going out with friends, and they got all the latest games they wanted on Xbox, Nintendo etc., They also had lunch money if needed.

My eldest saves every penny from his EMA, and worked for six months at Asda 20 hours a week todate six months later he hasnt spent a penny of his earnings.

At 17 he now buys his own clothes, however I buy his underwear and toiletries.

I would never expect a child under 17 or who does not work to buy anything for themselves. YOu don't have kids so they can support themselves.

My DS (age 10) gets £1 a week - and saves most of it.

Whilst I am prepared to buy 'basic' clothing I am not willing to pay for expensive trainers and 'branded' clothes so yes, I would expect him to buy those sort of clothes from pocket money and Christmas/birthday money (fortunately he is not at all fashion conscious and we both happily dress in charity shop stuff ).

Child benefit goes straight into a pension scheme so he won't see that for at least another 40 years .

Gosh, I feel quite mean now as DS7 gets roughly £1.20 and DD4 gets 70p. This is purely for their own spending (usually whatever stickers/cards they are collecting, sweeties, little toys) with the idea being they 'spend some, save some, give some' but DS usually spends all of his and DD puts hers in her money box. We donate an annual amount to charity on their behalf but my son often chooses to give some of his money to charity at important times of the year.

I have been thinking I should really give DS a little more.

Eek meant DS(7) and DD(4), I don't have seven children swoons

No, and my eldest is nearly 9.

I don't share your view Fabby - my DS isn't a teenager yet but I expect we will give him a small allowance (but also hope he gets a paper round or similar job) and then he has to learn how to budget - ie: decide whether to spend it on computer stuff/going out/clothes etc.

Surely children have to learn how to spend wisely - I can't believe you would really buy everything your children said they 'wanted' ? I think children need to learn about household income and what is appropriate to spend on 'non-essentials'.

I know that when I was a teenager and doing a variety of jobs - baby-sitting, catering etc I really learned the 'value' of things when I earned the money and decided how to spend (or save) it.

son 9

£10 a week from me

£5 a week from gran.

He saves it then he spends it.

Just saved hard and bought an i pod touch he was sooooo chuffed.

I would not expect him to buy his own clothes.