Teenager Allowance

[ForAFriend123]

Just wondering what allowance you give your teens, especially if they have a part time job.

I have a 14 yo and 16 yo; the eldest also has a part time job and works about 9 hours pw

Also is it chores linked?

We already pay for phones, school travel and lunches.

Also what is the allowance expected to cover?

How much can you afford?

My daughter earns around £125 a month from her Saturday job and I give her £80 on top, also pay for her phone and school bus.

The money pays for her lunches and any extras like her contact lenses and I never pay for things like clothes, food, makeup, with friends etc that comes out of her budget. She paid for her provisional driving licence etc.

My DD is 15 - I give her £30 a month in exchange for hoovering and mopping downstairs every weekdays after school and upstairs top twice a week. Takes her 10 mins a day. This covers anything she wants to do with friends e.g. cinema or bowling. If she goes out I pay for her lunch though. I buy all her clothes, toiletries etc so it's just for "fun.

She can earn more if she wants to but she never does

Ours got a bank account and £10pm from the age of 13. Their own spending money.
When they were 16 we switched to an allowance of £100pm to cover all spending and clothes (except school uniform, prom outfits or if there was a wedding or some such.

Our children have never had chores but are expected to do what is asked as a member of the family.
Any money they earned was entirely theirs.

I have tried to link allowances to chores several times but never lasts

I’ve never linked chores. You live here, you pitch in. I’m not paying for that! My teen (14) has long since chatted to friends and realised she’s unusual to get money with no expectations! She gets £7 a week, but I pay her phone, and clothes.

£25 a week plus bus pass, phone lunch money abd cinema tickets. Covers non essential clothes , make up etc. Not linked to chores but she does need to keep her bedroom and her bathroom clean.

Are cinema tickets an essential?

I used to give £50 a month at that age, that was about 8 years ago. It didn’t have to cover anything in particular so was more like pocket money.

@JanglyBeads no, but my dh gets them for a couple of pounds via a work scheme so it seems petty to take the money from her.

DS already has £40 pw for bus to college and lunches. Plus his phone is paid for.
I currently just bung DD a bit of money for snacks/treats but get fed up of being constantly asked.

Ds14 £15 pm, which isn't much but I still pay for phone, 1 school dinner and pack lunches, gym membership and clothes.
If he asks I give him money for bus fare and Mcdonalds etc occasionally , so he mostly saves it.
He is getting more into clothes so I am thinking of raising his allowance and he can buy his clothes and shoes, maybe to £40 pm.

17yrs old DS - £25 on pay day monthly. He doesn’t do any chores, busy with his A levels, he works so hard for them I’m happy for him to not help out (come summer he’s in training for Uni looking after himself).

14yr old DD - nothing, as she was wanting a few takeaway pizzas per month which came to over £25 so haven’t started her pocket money. But we go to Florida in the summer so I’m going to start saving it for her now and then once back she can have £25 a month.

This doesn’t really cover much, and I guess it could be more but anything they need they get, just have to ask. Also my son’s dad gives him £50 a month to cover his 5 a side football, so that’s £75 per month so plenty. He’s a good saver and he’s got quite a bit ready for Uni.

£50a month here. I wouldn't expect a teen studying for GCSEs to be mopping and hoovering daily either.

At 14, we just gave money when needed. From 16, at college we gave £250 a month for travel, lunch, most clothes (we still buy some), socialising, phone. We still buy basic toiletries like deodorant but he buys things like aftershave and we pay for driving lessons for him. He saves quite a bit each month.
It’s not really linked to chores but he tends to do the dishwasher, make lunch for everyone a couple of times a week, dinner once a week, put a wash on, walks the dogs, helps his younger sister with homework. Once he has a car, he’ll help with lifts for his sister as well.

DS (15) gets £40 pcm. Bus travel in Scotland is free up to the day before your 22nd birthday so no costs for that.

We pay his phone and clothes and his lunches. We view it as our responsibility still to feed and clothe him so would pay for that regardless of the allowance.

We also save £20 pcm into a stakeholder pension for him.

His allowance isn't tied to chores but he's expected to do pretty much everything asked of him. (Laundry, his own ironing, dishwasher etc).

So his allowance is all for fun. He often saves a portion and will then buy something bigger. He's got a rocket kit arriving tomorrow.

DD15 earns £35 per week working an hour (tutoring). I pay her phone bill (£10) and give her about £70 per month.

DC get £40 a month. I've continued it (because we can afford to do so) for the one with a p/t job, because I don't see why he should be disincentivised from working.
It's not chores linked as doing chores is part of living in this household and not negotiable (and not something that you get paid for either - unless one off out of the ordinary jobs such as painting the garden fence).
That includes their phone and all leisure activities (including bus fares), presents for friends/family and any clothes or items that are out of the ordinary (we provide clothes/food/essentials normally).

@ForAFriend123

DS already has £40 pw for bus to college and lunches. Plus his phone is paid for. I currently just bung DD a bit of money for snacks/treats but get fed up of being constantly asked.

A week? That's loads (unless the bus fare is £20 or something). Where is the money going?