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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask the going rate?

59 replies

JacobeanWilson · 31/10/2017 22:54

What's the going rate for pocket money these days?

My particular area of interest is children age 8 yrs old, but I'm nosey enough to be happy to know other ages too Grin

If you're at a financial extremity, please declare that too. Ie if you're loaded & give DC £25/wk then we're not in the same demographic but I'm still curious to know what all DC are getting these days. Just if you could put it into context that'd be lovely! Thanks!

OP posts:
Helpme02 · 01/11/2017 00:38

We are working class

steff13 · 01/11/2017 00:41

Mine are 9 and 12 and they get £'s per week the same as their age.

This is what we do too.

ProseccoMamam · 01/11/2017 00:52

I give my 7yo and 1yo £5 each a week - but it goes straight into their saving accounts and I will (try) to make them both use the money on driving lessons and towards their first car.

DS2 sometimes accumulates £1/50p from strangers with just his cuteness.

I pay DS1 to help me do odd tasks now and again. He gets £5 on a Friday after washing the dogs, £5 if he helps me do some gardening and he gets £5 from his nan if he washes her car. From this money he saves for family trips/holidays or treats for himself/others. However I only pay him to do little odd jobs, I wouldn’t dream of giving him money to respect our home. So stripping and making his bed/cleaning his room and putting his washing in the basket are non negotiable and he does them without earning money.

Me and DH were very strict with this raising the kids, we wanted them to understand that you have to work to earn money but we also didn’t want the kids to expect money for looking after themselves and practicing basic hygiene and cleanliness.

BusyBeez99 · 01/11/2017 05:18

£10 a month but we also pay for school lunches, mobile phone and savings each month.

BusyBeez99 · 01/11/2017 05:18

Sorry DS âge 11

ChangingStates · 01/11/2017 05:48

We are not rich but comfortable.

10 year old gets £3.50 a week, 6 year old gets £2.00, they both give up 50p of that a week to adopt animals through WWF (I match fund and donate the other 50p a week).

No money given for what they should do everyday but sometimes extra cash can be earned by cleaning out the car etc

Socksey · 01/11/2017 05:51

Mine ( just turned 9) has £5 per month. Good salary (£30k) but massive mortgage.

Saracen · 01/11/2017 05:57

My first child used to get 50p a week at that age. There were various grandparenty friends of the family and neighbours who used to press a pound into her hand quite often, so I didn't need to provide much. Also I had noticed that lack of money stimulated her creative work ethic - she and her friends were always dreaming up schemes to make money, which I quite liked. They learned a great deal from their business enterprises.

My younger child got no pocket money at that age. She never seemed able to think of anything to spend it on, so it seemed pointless! When we did start giving her money recently, it appeared to be a source of stress for her: she feels she HAS to spend it, but she doesn't actually want anything. She ends up buying sweets which she mostly doesn't eat! There's a mountain of them.

Saracen · 01/11/2017 05:58

If you aren't sure how much pocket money to give, start with less rather than more. You can easily increase it later, but it is a lot harder to claw back if you decide you've gone overboard!!

Phillipa12 · 01/11/2017 06:04

My eldest ds gets £2 per week for putting out the bins (70m walk) and to be fair to him he goes straight to the shop after school and buys himself and his 2 little brothers some sweets and then gives me the change.

Flippetydip · 01/11/2017 06:05

Wow - I feel like we're being really mean now having read all this!

DS 8 get £1.50 a week and he has to keep his bedroom tidy and put away all his laundry for that.

DS 6 gets nothing because she didn't want to be "pressured" to keep her bedroom today..... I ask you.

We're on the "comfortable" end of the financial spectrum.

glenthebattleostrich · 01/11/2017 06:18

DD gets £20 per month. We are fairly comfortably off.

Half of that goes into her holiday spending money for a big trip next year and the other half into her purse.

She spends it on glittery shit from smiggle and Claire's, magazines and bloody giftshops when we have days out.

I was never taught to budget and I think handling her own money from a young age is good for dd. She's now very good at deciding between yet more sparkly rubbish and keeping money for a cinema trip ( I pay for tickets and popcorn, she pays for the overpriced sweeties).

HeteronormativeHaybales · 01/11/2017 06:30

My 10 and 12yo get 20 euro a month, 10 of which goes straight into their bank accounts, access to which is fairly tightly controlled (so they don't just spend it all on a whim). They get extra as and when for school trips, stuff like Christmas markets/fairs (if they got more on a regular basis we probably wouldn't give this extra), and 12yo gets a weekly canteen allowance for his long school days (Germany, no traditional lunchbreak or lunches).

Middle income family.

Charolais · 01/11/2017 06:35

My granddad gave me half a crown every Saturday morning when I was a nipper.

Original poster
JacobeanWilson · 01/11/2017 06:57

Thanks, this is really interesting. So many different approaches.

My DD had told me her peers got £5 / wk and I honestly didn't think children that age would get so much unless it was to cover additionals other parents fund as routine. I pay for everything for my DD and agree she doesn't need her own money as such due to being with me all the time, but I struggle to agree to absolute rip off tat when we're out and about (£6 magazines, gift shop junk you can get 1/5 of the price elsewhere, those egg machines where you don't know what junk you're actually getting until it's too late). So I think pocket money is needed to give her this choice! Because tat is a childhood necessity, and hopefully she then won't spend money on tat as an adult due to repressed tat urges as a child!

The spend for today / save for tomorrow choice is also on my mind.

Loads of great info here, thanks all Flowers

OP posts:
Flippetydip · 01/11/2017 07:34

Yes, our DS with his measly £1.50 does have to save up for his Beanos - but you know, all a good learning process!

Catalufa · 01/11/2017 07:39

We’re well off but the DC (age 8, 10 and 11) don’t get pocket money. I don’t know why really, it’s just not something we’ve done yet. I do plan to start it for DC1 now he’s at secondary school but I keep forgetting!

Lucyccfc · 01/11/2017 07:49

My DS is 12 and gets £4 a week. He has a list of jobs he does for that. Cleaning his room, putting bins out, setting table etc.

He tends to save it, as he likes to buy his teams latest football kit every season. He saved and pays for this himself.

Inkandbone · 01/11/2017 07:50

£10 p/w conditional on certain behaviours!

He is pretty good to be fair.

Frouby · 01/11/2017 07:52

Dd (13) gets £5 a week fritter money. She has an activity paid for each week that costs £20 and knows she would get more fritter money if she didn't do the activity.

However she does get given money fir busfares and lunch if she goes out with her friends. And probably a bit extra. And I buy all her toiletries, clothes etc.

I am contemplating giving ds (almost 4) pocket money too to try and curb his wanting everything all the time. We have a charity shop across the road and he constantly wants to be in there buying toys. Have dug his money box out and he is saving pennies at the moment until he has enough. He gets a penny for tidying his toys away, a penny for getting dressed, a penny for a good bedtime etc.

It's working for now but it's only been a few days. He is hoping to have enough by Saturday 😁

RedSkyAtNight · 01/11/2017 07:57

At 9 it was £1 a week which basically got blown on sweets (DS) and saved (DD).

Now (13 and 11) it's £5 a month to blow and £5 a month to save (DD still saves all of hers) and we cover everything else they could need.

DS spends all of his "non saving" pot on sweets and fizzy drinks so I'm very loathe to give him more to spend on rubbish, though we could afford it.

RedSkyAtNight · 01/11/2017 07:58

Those who give their DC £5 a week - what do they spend it on? As I said I'd happily give him this, but not to be spent on sweets and fizzy drinks (which is what he would spend it on).

Inkandbone · 01/11/2017 08:01

I did that with mine frouby, the constant "I want"s were driving me mad.

FV45 · 01/11/2017 08:46

8 yo DS gets £1 a week. He mostly buys a pack of football cards or saves it and buys multiple packs of football cards!
It is unconditional. He is part of the household and family so expected to do jobs around the home etc.

I like that he's learning the value of money e.g. the £2 he spent at the fair was very soon gone.

I'll give him extra for days out, but he doesn't ask for much really.

18 yo DS is another story!

dantdmistedious · 01/11/2017 09:16

6yos get £2 per week with the potential to get more from their star chart.