What age do you stop pocket money?

[Atwaroverscrabble]

just wondering at what age we should stop paying dsd pocket money? She is 16 and gets £20 from us, not sure what she gets from her mum... She has shown no interest in getting a part time job and should be starting a levels in September... Perhaps cutting pocket money will make her look for work? What do you all think?

I think she'll be unlikely to get a part time job if she knows you'll carry on giving her £20 a week (which I think is quite a lot personally!!)

I would tell her she needs to look for a part time job and give her a deadline of when the pocket money will stop

Sorry it's £20 a month! We Deliberately kept it at that fate since 13 to encourage get to get work,,..

When she has finished her A levels and is supporting herself or is off to university is what I do. I wouldn't imagine that £5 per week (even less if it's £20 per month) is an incentive not to find work. FWIW dd gets £20pw and a driving lesson £18pw but still chooses to work part time alongside her A levels as she is saving for University. It isn't easy to find work as a teen dd's jobs have been found through friends and family because demand for jobs is really high. Maybe you could help dsd find work by speaking to your friends and relatives as well as local shops and cafes and ask them to bear her in mind.

We gave both DDs £20 a month, but stopped when they got part-time jobs at 16, which we encouraged them to find. However, we didn't want them to be working more than 6-8 hours a week as school is much more important, so we give them money if they are a bit short e.g. for friends birthday presents and buy essential clothes.

Agree with asdx2 about the difficulty in finding work though, so she will need plenty of encouragement and help with getting a job. In your case I wouldn't give her the option of not getting a job, just tell her it's time she looked for work and begin going about it with her, initially. And maybe hint about the pocket money drying up when she is a sixth former... FWIW my DDs say almost everyone in sixth form has jobs and it's considered a bit odd if you haven't got one/haven't looked for one. Obviously that very much depends on the particular school, catchment etc.

why dont you tell her for every £2 she earns you will give her £1 for the first 4 months might give her a boost

I dont think it's fair to cut pocket money in order to incentivise a 16 year old to seek part time work. School is far more important as another MN states above. You either give her pocket money or you don't according to your views or your bank balance, but to cut it as an incentive to work isn't right in my opinion. If she wants to devote more time to studying than seeking work she shouldn't be penalised. I won't be encouraging my 16 year old to find part time work. It's important he devotes his time to his A Levels in September. I don't have much money spare but I'm happy to give what I can when I can so that he can socialise

Thanks everyone, it's food for thought definitely! I think she needs to get a small job to give her confidence and to make friends but we are in a big uni town so lots of competition for jobs,,,, I might make pocket money dependent on her babysitting at least twice a month....

It's very very difficult to get part time jobs these days, but if you need a babysitter it sounds an ideal outcome.

Unfortunately she does have zero common sense so not sure if dh will leave dd with dsd but I'll suggest it! Lol

We still give DD3 19 £30 a month, She is still at college and is trying hard to get a part time job, Which is very difficult at the moment. She does voluntary work at a charity shop on Saturdays which she hopes will help her get a paid job,
As with her didtrs we have said we will cary on giving her money as long as she is trying to get work.

I meant to say as with her sisters. She is dyspraxic and has another slight learning difficultie which is why she is still at college

That's good is working in the charity shop though! I think I will discuss that with dsd that if she can't get paid work then she needs to consider volunteer work and if she is making the effort then I have no objection to continuing the pocket money but if she can't be bothered then I can't be bothered to do a bank transfer each month!!