I've got five grandchildren. The two eldest have been to university and one of the girls is now a solicitor. I'm very proud of what they can do. But they could never skin a rabbit !!!

[stoppinattwo]

What a wonderful quote

should chidren work

What are your thoughts....are we producing a generation who dont value the idea of working for a living....or do children really have enough to cope with, without a paper round??

BTW for the mnetter for whom Im currently rabbit sitting whilst you are on your hols....fear not, the bunny is safe

I think we have enough working years ahead of us - and it's increasing all the time - so I don't see the need to push children into working.

However I do feel that children need to be raised to understand that you need to work for a living, and should grow up intending to work as an adult. They should learn that they have to pay their way in life, and that means earning a wage.

With DD having a father that doesn't (can't) work I worry about instilling a work ethic.

Mind you I train lots of youngsters who have very little idea bout how 'work' works expecting late starts/early finishes whenever & misunderstanding 'sick' days; I dread the idea that DD might be like that.

Every so often I get a gem who works hard and understands you don't get something for nothing - but it's rare (& I keep tight hold of them)

My dd has been working for her spending money since she was 13/14. Started with odd jobs for me then onto babysitting for others ,then at 16 got job in supermarket.

Does her good to have money for stuff and takes the pressure off us.

I wish I could put my finger on the Radio 4 programme I was listening to not so long ago about the different attitudes to work across the generations. The bone-idle extended-childhood thing is very common, apparently. One HR/recruitment manager described how a twenty-something's mother rang up to apply for a job for him. She pointed out it would have been a better move for the young man to make the call himself but nevertheless asked if he would come to an interview the next morning at 9:30. "He doesn't get up until 10:00" was his mother's genuine reply

A kid that has had the gumption to get a paper-round or wash cars will probably do OK for themselves. Even getting them to do household chores for their pocket money is better than nothing.

My kids will be expected to supplement their pocket money by working in their teens (or else exist on the pittance I intend to give them). I think it instills self-discipline and is character-building (and yes, I know how old fashioned that sounds).

I was a very shy teenager and my part-time job gave me confidence in myself in a way that school just didn't (even though I did well there). In terms of my future, it was every bit as important as my A levels for that reason.

I was not encouraged to do paper rounds, partly because I was not strong in health, partly because my parents wanted me to concentrate on my studies. I had a modest allowance.

I have to say when I got to university it was an enormous advantage not to be used to having money to spare. My friends who had been earning since the age of 14 struggled enormously on the student loan. I felt rich.

Not to mention the fact that I was far more used than they were to studying through the night and generally to the idea of working without instant remuneration.

I feel very privileged having grown up in a family where so much work was done for the sheer love of it. Yes, of course we have to work for money, but it's also great if you can go the extra mile and do a bit of work for fun.

I was listening to this too.I worked as a child.I had to pick potatoes,pluck turkeys,unload bales and when I got big enough to stand on the pedals,drive tractors.I didn't get paid though,we were just expected to help.

Chi1234,it was The Money Programme,3pm Wedsnesdays.[can't you tell I listen to R4 a lot]It was about applying to Uni iirc.I was shocked.

I joke with the dds that they were put to work as babies.They were both fitting models from a few months old and had earned quite a bit before they were two.

Cory, very interesting point re being used to the idea of working without instant gratification?I always held the view that starting part time work at 12 or 13 did me such good, I'm not so sure now, I know for a fact that I was busy out earning money when I should have stayed in and studied.

I would how it would have panned out if my parents had been a tiny bit more liberal with my allowance and bought me the odd thing here and there to keep up with the latest fashions (and other things) that seem so important when you are a teenager? I guess I'll never know!

One of the things that has changed is that when I was 16, most people left school at 16 and went out to work. That meant the Saturday jobs were filled by 14 year olds, and by those few people in 6th form.

When my DCs were looking for Saturday jobs nowhere would take them until they were of Statutory School Leaving Age, which is the June of Y11. With September born boys they had to wait until they were almost 17.

There are thousands of FT students fighting for the same holiday/ weekend jobs, and they tend to get priority.

Well I never went to uni. but I can skin a rabbit

(don't worry pets in garden you are exempt)

I am 52. I have a degree and a PhD. I can grow vegetables, kill, pluck and gut a chicken - and cook it - milk a cow, drive a tractor, knit, embroider and make my own clothes. I can also use a chainsaw, fell a tree and lay a hedge.

Come to think of it I am really quite competent

I didn't earn any money until I left school at 18, and worked on a farm for a year (which is where I learned to do most of the above) before going to uiniversity to read Agriculture. My mother taught me to sew and cook, I taught myself to knit.

I use few of these skills in my life these days - what with a busy job and a family about all I cope with is growing veg. But I know how and could do it all if I needed to.

poor old ds was desperate to apply for a paperboy vacancy in our local newsagent. He was VERY disappointed when I explained six year olds were too little to deliver papers. He made me go and talk to the assistant just to prove I hadn't got it wrong!

I hope he's just as keen to earn some money in seven or eight years' time. Lots of the teenagers round here advertise via schools and shop windows and mail drops for work so they can save up for various projects.

Damn straight, DD's will be up a chimney at the first available opportunity!

Seriously, though, with the self-discipline that used to be instilled via school slipping with time, I think child labour's a good thing, I'm one of the 'never did me any harm' brigade.

Added to this, DD's have a healthy appreciation of the value of money already through pocket money chores and fines for ill-behaviour, so understanding that you don't get the shiny thing unless you finish your god-awful Sunday night waitressing shift should come easily to them. I hope.