My 16 year old has just told me...

[itwasadarkandstormy]

... that all his friends are given £200 a week by their parents as spending money. I'm calling bullshit.

Actually, I feel like I've had the stuffing knocked out of me. I thought I was generous at about £80 a week.

So, AIBU?

Hahaha, when I was fourteen I was forced to draft a letter asking for part time work, tweak it for different companies found in the phonebook and mail it out to them all! I got a stint at a nursery (the plant kind) and a stint at a fish and chip shop, then moved to full time employment a couple years later.

Can't blame him for trying, but he's taking the piss!

I don't think the OP has said what the £80 a week includes, does it? Incidentally, my 16 year old gets £50 a month as pocket money. He also keeps his earnings, which can vary from nothing to £80 a week.

If it includes lunches and travel and phone then I spend 200 a month on my 17 year old. That's with 50 a month spends. She has a job in the pub, earns 100 a month.

bertrand she says he reckons he shoudl have £200 a week spending money, and OP says she buys all toiletries - So I'm going to go out on a limb and reckon she pays for everything 'extra' and he has £80 pw pocket money

All of them get £200 per week or just the most that one of the kids gets? Unless this kid is paying expenses like food, travel, taxis, expensive hobby etc then it’s an insane amount. Most people don’t even get that in child maintenance or job seekers!

These threads always make me sad at how hard nosed and tight fisted and just miserly some parents are with their children.

These threads always make me sad at how hard nosed and tight fisted and just miserly some parents are with their children.

By not giving them oodles of money or 'stuff'. Ok then.

£80 for a 16 year old- far too generous

We have less than £80 a week for food and clothes for 5 of us! That's a huge amount of pocket money for a teen with no expenses, never mind £200.

I'm not miserly or tight with my kids as my activity on the Christmas thread will show but I wouldn't give a 16 year old £80/ week. Possibly possibly £80 a month but tbh I didn't get pocket money at that age - I had a job and I worked all day Saturday, 4 hours Sunday and 3 hours during the week. I worked hard at school too and got excellent grades and had time for my friends etc. It did me good.

"These threads always make me sad at how hard nosed and tight fisted and just miserly some parents are with their children."

Tightfisted? Miserly? Maybe not everyone can afford to hand over £80+quid a week? Maybe they don't want to breed ungrateful little shits?

I had a job and I worked all day Saturday, 4 hours Sunday and 3 hours during the week. I worked hard at school too and got excellent grades and had time for my friends etc. It did me good.

It did me good, too! I've never not worked since I was 15, though to be honest, whatever money I did make was IMO not the main benefit of doing it. That would be landing my graduate job and actually having an idea what this whole "working" business entailed.

I train graduates as part of my job nowadays and I'm still often surprised at how young and helpless they seem - not so much in terms of being able to do the job (my team and I are there to teach them that) but regarding very basic concepts, such as the fact that you're meant to let your boss know if you're off sick instead of going MIA, the fact that you can't spend your entire salary on fun stuff because you'll end up not being able to pay the rent, and so on.

At least twice a week I find myself in a situation where I'm being more ersatz-mum than boss, helping people with basics life skills, such as how to look for a flat in a new town. I actually feel very sorry for these young adults sometimes; ultimately, it's unfair on them that they never got the chance to fail and learn in a safe environment.

At 16 both my kids had part time jobs and bought their own toiletries and some clothes. I was a single parent on low income and couldn't afford to give them anything. Even if I had been better off, I would have expected them to try to earn their own money.
It's not generous to give your kids lots of money for nothing...it's stupid.

As an adult if you claim job seekers allowance it is £73 a week which you would need to pay bills and food. Your child should get a part time job

I wouldn't hand over £80 a week just for treats either. But yes I do think it tight fisted to expect your young teen to buy their own shampoo, deodorant, sanitary towels etc when you can easily afford to provide them yourself.

Haha. This place is nuts as ever.

No to £80/week and no to £200/week. I don't know anyone that could afford to give their children that much!

I used to get given my CB as a teenager. It was about £7.50 then. Once I got my first job at 16 I had to pay my parents rent,buy all my clothes etc. He sounds a bit entitled tbh.

When it comes to toiletries,I buy basics. If they want posh stuff they buy it for themselves. I'm not forking out £45 for ds's Eau de Cypre.....

I work full time and don’t get £80 a week once my unavoidable outgoings have been paid for.

Same here Bertrand. I buy 'normal' toiletries, but if they want to buy themselves a £34 primer from Smashbox then they save up and buy it themselves.

I'm generous, not a total mug.

£80 a week?? I only used to get £10 a month. Even that was only up until I turned 16, then I had to get a job.

My 16 year old gets £30 per month from me. If she wants more she has to get a job.

He pays for all good and travel out of this money. It's not total burning a hole in his pocket money.

All I can say is--I admire his entrepreneurship in trying to get 200 quid out of his parents!