To ask what's a reasonable expectation of a teenager?

[Sofiegiraffe]

Two parts to my question really.

1. How much monthly allowance do you think is reasonable for an almost 16 year old? (I appreciate this figure is budget dependent in each family, so just a rough idea would be good, or even a range...)

2. What household chores / task would you expect of them to "earn" that amount? (If any).

Thank you!

@Sofiegiraffe it sounds like the anxiety needs addressed and why she doesn't want a job. I know her being 2.5 hours away complicates things. My now hubby had weekends off and worked a couple of nights per week after school. I know this isn't the question you asked.
I was very shy, spent my teenage years covering up sweat patches, couldn't enter a room by myself or go in first (probably social anxiety when looking back)
A job done me the world of good for my confidence. I didn't receive any pocket money from when I received my national insurance number. That was my incentive of ... you need to get a job

When my DS was 16 I paid for his phone, clothes and toiletries and gave him £40 a month. In exchange I expected him to do his own ironing and keep his room and the bathroom clean (I had an en-suite so he was the only one who used that bathroom). He spent a lot of time studying so we agreed that he wouldn’t have to get a part time job while he was still at school as that would have affected his grades.

At that age they had phone and £45 a week - but rhey had to buy clothes out of that unless it was major like a winter coat.

£20 per week though I’ll be reducing that soon as she has just started working. She spends it on beauty products and socialising mainly. I’m not sure she’d manage on much less, a meal at nandos with friends is more than half of that. The money isn’t connected to chores, I expect her to pull her weight around the house as it’s just the 2 of us, and mostly she does. There are no set jobs but she will Hoover when it needs doing, wash the dishes, hang up laundry etc.

@TuscanApothecary

My 16yr old gets her phone, bus pass, clothes and a tenner a week.

In return she does the kitchen and dishwasher every other day. Washes her own clothes and keeps her room clean. If I ask her to do ad hoc jobs like vacuum she will without complaint. She's looking for a PT job atm and has applied for a few.

She has access to my Netflix, Spotify, Disney plus and prime accounts. I think she gets a lot tbh, much more than when I was 16.

Mine got almost exactly that at that age, apart from I gave them £50 a month so they could learn to budget. I think it went up to £75 at 16 and I expected them to buy some of their clothes but would still get them pants socks and jeans etc.

[quote Sofiegiraffe]@WhatTheWhoTheWhatThe

Thanks. She desperately wants a weekend job but she struggles a bit with social anxiety so she's shying away from it at the moment. I'm trying to support her with this and help her approach places etc, but no luck so far. She also stays with her Dad EOW who lives 2.5 hours away, so she would only be available alternate weekends and she thinks this will put employers off. I've encouraged her to ask anyway, but she's not up for it at the moment. I'm resisting the temptation to do it for her as she'll learn nothing if I do, and she needs to overcome this anxiety somehow. [/quote]
I don’t think a term time weekend job is really viable then. She can get a summer job for that experience.

If you pay for basic phone, basic clothes, shoes, bus pass, lunch allowance if she needs it, then I’d say a tenner a week for extra clothes, coffees with friends, bits and bobs.

In return I’d expect a tidy room, cleaned a couple times a month, with clothes put into the laundry and plates/cups taken up to room brought down and washed up/put in dishwasher.

Add one or two household responsibilities eg dog walking, unloading the dishwasher in the morning, taking out the recycling. Etc

At 16 we have DS his child benefit, so about £80 every four weeks. We still paid for his phone, school uniform and Explorer Scouts subs, the rest was down to him.

He went mad the first couple months and bought Egyptian cotton bedding and band T-shirts, then slowed down a little! He also has a PT job and earns about £60 a week there on top. He funds his own car, we help out with an occasional tank of fuel, we went halves on a laptop with him and once every few months I buy food and drinks for a poker night when it's his turn to host (that's actually because his friends are great and I like the house to be full of teenagers)

In terms of chores, we prefer him to be an active member of the house and do things as they are required (rather than having set chores) He's responsible for his own bedroom and bed, clears the table and loads the dishwasher after dinner and cleans his shower room Other than that he will do things as asked. He's a hard worker and coming up for A-levels so I would prefer that was his main focus. He can however work washing machines, irons, hoovers etc should the need arise

I give dd 30 per month to spend. By standing order. She uses a debit card. Also pay phone. No jobs needed.

She just buys fashion clothes. I buy all regular clothes

My DS is 17 and gets £25 a month and delivers the free papers which gets him another £25 a month. We pay his SIM only phone contract, clothes he needs, haircuts etc. and when he does go out (which is rarely) I’m happy to give him extra if he needs it.

No set chores but he’ll keep his room clean, run to the shop if I need something, vacuum or cook if I ask. He’s got his A levels this year so I’d rather he concentrate on that.

@weaselwords I think £75 with clothes is a good deal. I might up it slightly more for dd and let her do the same.

When I was 16 chores were typically:

Mow the lawn
Do own laundry
Shopping
Cook a midweek family meal
Take out bins/recycling
Walk the dogs
Any other random ad hoc tasks (wash car, run errands, help siblings with homework)

Had a Saturday job at a builders merchants being a general dogs body that paid reasonably well and let me work holidays there.

Mine has a monthly allowance from which she buys clothes, gifts, toiletries, social spending, bus fares, lunch on school days etc. I pay for her phone, extracurricular activities and any school stuff. I won't say the amount as it's probably on the generous side simply because we can afford it, but I'm not sure if would be helpful to you. She also has two PT jobs so has plenty of her own money. She saves a I ot of it.

I don't expect her to "earn" the allowance as it isn't linked to any chores. She gets it regardless. However, I do expect her to contribute reasonably as a member of the household to cooking, cleaning etc. She is actually pretty good with this generally - she gets up before anyone and unloads the dishwasher without being asked, she will quite often take it upon herself to hoover the whole house if she is doing her room, and she will willingly help with other tasks when asked. We keep agreeing that she will also cook once a week as she wants to get more practice, but we're both really busy and keep forgetting!

I would add that she has been completely responsible for her own laundry, tidying her room, changing her own sheets, emptying her bins etc since she was around 10.

[quote TuscanApothecary]@weaselwords I think £75 with clothes is a good deal. I might up it slightly more for dd and let her do the same.[/quote]
I did that, to make them really think about the clothes they wanted (and at 16 they tend to want lots of clothes) and not just waste my money on tat they don’t wear. They wasted their own money a couple of times and then one became a pro charity shopper and the other with more expensive tastes became adept at saving and sniffing out a bargain.
I think it really helps them to have a relatively big amount of money in one lump, so they can go through the pain of blowing it all in one go on something crap like in game purchases and then learn from that and start to save and budget. And have to wait for more expensive things.

When I was growing up, chores and allowance weren't linked.

I got £50 per month regardless - that had to cover going out with friends, train tickets, food, fun clothes, phone bill etc. My parents paid for all my essentials on top.

Household chores were considered part of life and living at home, so I was expected to do those regardless. I did things like laundry, taking the rubbish out, setting the table, washing up after dinner, keeping my room tidy, vacuuming etc.

My parents would sometimes pay extra for "other" jobs - washing the car, for example.