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?

are you sure he does not mean £200 a month?

£20 a week - only if dog walk & garden pick ups x2, porch clean x1, hoovering house x1 lawn mowed in summer once every 3 weeks.
I pay for clothes (inc branded), books for school and pleasure, school meals, phone, gym membership and transport.

He pays for expenses with friends, computer games, weird stuff he wants from Amazon, his Jaffa cake and cadbury's habit.

We are both high earners, have a large house with a small mortgage and live in London. His friends get similar apart from one, who gets insane amounts of money and stuff.

£80 is v generous.

£200 a week is ridiculous

Wow! Does he have to do anything to get that? My dd gets £50 a month and does her own laundry, shares the hoovering with me and cleans the bathroom once a week.

She also has a Saturday job.

I pay her phone but that was birthday present.

She wants 'fancy clothes' or other extras she buys herself I only get essentials.

She's had pocket money since age 8 but has always had to 'earn' it - at that age just putting toys away, taking dirty dishes in kitchen - but she ALWAYS understood it wasn't for nothing.

Of course he's doing nothing to get a part time job he's got no incentive to!! Cut down to £50-60 a month which seems a rough ave based on thread - which he needs to earn - and insist on evidence that he's applying for jobs too.

My dds little 'gang' one of them doesn't have a pt job yet and it's driving her parents nuts. But they're still giving her too much in my opinion. The rest of the group have started ribbing her about it and she's missing out on doing stuff they can because they earn money to do it - like concerts and trips to the city. This finally seems to be having an effect and she's trying a bit harder.

Hilarious. Just to highlight, a 16-year-old working 20 hours a week at minimum wage would earn £81 a week. You're giving him that for doing nothing at all, and he wants two and a half times that. Love it.

He gets £80 per week pocket money and you buy his clothes and toiletries!! Bugger me. You are too generous.

Wow, I was gobsmacked by this £80!
I don't even have £80 after paying my bills from my (almost) full time wages and I'm in my mid 30s with a toddler to look after! I would never dream of giving DS that amount of money when he is older. I got a job at 16 and moved out of home, fended for myself, only bought what I could afford.
Your DS will never learn the value of money and what it means to 'earn' something

My 16 year olds get their iphones paid for by me and DH, the rest of their money is earnt in the local chip shop at £4 an hour ..... they are extremely careful with it. Unlike when we gave them money.

OP- before the flood of outrage drowns you, what does the 80 quid cover?

offer to phone the parents of his chums and ask them, while he stands there.

You are not instilling good values by giving him that much money, even if you can afford it. When he gets a first proper job and is paying his own rent and bills etc. he isn't going to have anywhere near that much disposable income. And I don't imagine it would be pleasant for him, bit of a shock to the system. I can't even imagine what he is spending it on, loads of designer gear? Michelin star meals? New Nikes on a weekly basis? Or more probably drugs. That's what my spoilt peers as teens spent all their money on, because they already had the clothes the makeup or whatever.

My parents could have afforded to give me £200 a week, but they gave me £20 a month, so I got a job at 14 that topped me up £15 a week. It instilled a good work ethic and taught me the value of money. My school friend who's dad was worth £80 million didn't get much more than me, and no one would have known she was from a super wealthy family. She was humble and generous, the furthest thing from spoilt.

Your son is a cheeky sod trying to ask for more. Stop giving it and take him to a food bank or a homeless shelter, show him threads on here where families are struggling to put food on the table despite working. He needs a reality check. Spoilt teens do not turn into nice adults. His attitude is disgusting.

So when do people think it will end up in the Daily Fail?

I think £20 a week is more realistic! 80 is just bonkers!

I've just started giving mine a tenner a week aged 10 and 12.

It seems like a lot but they have to buy their own school shoes, non-uniform clothing, pay for requested excursions, buy birthday presents/give money, buy their school dinners if they don't want to make packed lunches for themselves on a Friday.

I reckon I'm actually making a saving!

I thought I was generous at 20 per week 😳. £80 is too much let alone 200, I work full time and don't spend that a month .

Depends what it's for DD gets £20 spends but I end up giving her £10 a day for 4 days of the week but train fair to college is £6.50 a day return plus change for lunch/drink.

Are you actually joking?

We have a very good income (top 5%) and my kids have worked since 12 (paper rounds) then 16 in retail for their pocket money. DS worked 12 hours a week at Tesco for about £80.00.

You need to knock this on the head NOW.

No wonder we see threads on here like the woman who stopped paying her mother rent on the house her mother was buying for her and spent it on holidays instead and thought her mother was unreasonable when she evicted her. FFS.

If the OP’s child is in an area where £80 a week in the norm then it is plausible that some get £200. It does depend if this is pocket money or does it include commute and lunch. My 16 year old gets lunch and travel paid for, he has £65 a month but as he is working this goes to his ISA for university.

YANBU! 😂😂😂😂

Holy moly, this is ridiculous. At 16 i was working 20 hours a week and had been working weekends since 14. My mum stopped giving me pocket money the minute I started working. No way I'd be handing over £80 a week to a 16 year old.

I'm calling bullshit on you OP. Nobody gives their 16 year old £80 a week so you're either winding everybody up or you don't live in the real world.

I wouldn't get a job at 16 if I had your sons life. No way!

My 14 year old gets £5 a week when she needs it and she's walking the 2 miles to school and back to use her bus fare to pay for a weekly drama club because she's desperate and dedicated and I admire her for that. When she's 16 she will want a job. Her pocket money will stop by 18 at the latest.

You give your 16 yr old £80 a week?

Did you do something very bad and he's threatening to tell the police where the body is buried?

£80 a week?? Are you paying for his fags and booze? I bet you are if you don't know what he spends his money on! That's far too much for a 16 year old and as for his mates getting £200 a week, that's what some people earn!

I guess it depends on what you expect them to do with it.

Mine (age 17 and 16) get £40 a month!

However, I pay for their phone, they don't socialise a lot but if they go out I tend to give them something and they usually con a few pound at the weekend to get juice and crisps at the shops.

I pay for clothes but they don't ask for much and sometimes it's given for Birthdays and Christmas. They both save money on what they are given and really it's just for themselves. If they want more they can get a job. They do occasional babysittig for neighbours.