What allowance do you give your 16 year olds?

[rookiemere]

Hi
We're trying to work out what is fair as an allowance for DS.

I'd be interested in what other people give per month and what it covers e.g. clothes, extra food outside meal times etc.

For context DS16 gets £80 per month and this is meant to cover gym £10 plus clothes and outings. However as he does a lot of sports he says he spends a lot of it on food.

DS goes to private school and it does feel as if his peers have the latest gear and can afford things. We are comfortably off but don't like to waste money and it feels like DS is continually asking for money.

My two get £100 a month but I pay for their phones and some clothes (the girl uses most of her pocket money on clothes).

I've just told the 18 year old I expect him to get a job pretty damn quickly while he takes a gap year (he is planning on going to Canada to work next summer). He has deferred his entry to university until next year. I won't pay pocket money once he is earning.

I'm feeling a bit tight too. Ds, 16, gets £40 per month, but in addition we pay £30 gym membership, £10 phone and, when he's at school, about £40 for lunches. He's also frustrated me by not applying for a single job this summer, even though there have been many advertised within walking distance that would have been perfect.

Reading all the comments here I was thinking of putting his allowance up, but as I've just read back what I've typed, I think £40 plus the extras we pay is perfectly acceptable!

Seriously don’t put his allowance up, that is plenty. Ours has just finished GCSEs and has got a job she can continue in term time so we have stopped our allowance altogether so she has to use her own money. We do pay £10 phone. I do think at this age they should be working in some capacity. I worked from a young age, through sixth form and through uni- i am pretty rubbish at many things but I am very good with money and budgeting.

At 16 DD was getting £100 a month however if she was going out for lunch, shopping etc with friends and she needed it I would give her more on top, so realistically ending up around £200/£250 most months. She’s an only child - I’m a single mum so if I had more than just her it would definitely be less than this!

My dd is 17. I give her £100 per month and that includes her college lunch money. I pay for her phone and some clothes but not all. She has a p/t job which earns her about £200 per month.

Thanks for responses so far.
It does seem maybe we are on the less generous side.

I am a bit surprised at some of the amounts quoted here. However, during the holidays my dc (16) has gone into town with friends on numerous occasions and it has amounted to £20 each time - lunch, bus fare etc. (but I have wanted to enourage socialising). Also pay for clothes/toiletries/phone etc. which probably amounts to a fair bit each month.

At this age (whilst I was doing a full-time course) I had to earn my own money and had not much (if anything) in the way of an allowance. I saved up for my driving lessons and was taught the value of money. I'm hoping dc will look for a part-time job soon - more in terms what it could do to improve their confidence.

They won’t look for a part time job whilst you are paying them so much money. I did get fed up with being asked for a few pound here and there and refused and then mine got a job. If you live near a town there is tons of jobs going especially now students going back to uni. Teenagers take the easy road and whilst you giving them so much money they won’t look for jobs. Also working gives them confidence and gives them less spare time to get up to mischief:)

Mine turns 16 in Jan. He gets £30 a month which covers social life and clothing. I pay for phone (£6 a month giffgaff, if he wants more than that he can pay) school uniform, sports gear and essential shoes. He pays for all casual clothing and of he wanted extra shoes etc, birthday presents for friends and anything else. He has no interest in clothes at all so for him it works and he currently has about £150 saved even after I dragged him shopping and forced him to spend around £100 on clothes and buying some geeky, expensive imported plush online and dribs and drabs on his switch over the summer.

He doesn't have a regular job which I don't mind because he volunteers, I think with school etc then realistically it is one of the other. He does casual baby sitting though to earn some extra.

I do find it funny how different kids can be though with same upbringing. Dd age 13 also gets £30 a month with the same stipulations and is incapable off going out without buying something and rarely has more than £20 in her bank account. She's surviving because she got lots of clothes for her birthday but she'll have to control her spending soon as she's growing so much she'll need new clothes! Her tastes are rather more expensive than her brothers too, she likes run and fly dungarees and dresses.

I feel very tight after reading this. DD16 has a Saturday job. DS14 has a Sunday paper round. We pay for their mobile phones and they have access to Netflix/Disney plus. We don’t give them anything else…..obviously buy toiletries etc I will buy chocolate or sweets for them. I buy them clothes when needed.

At 16, he should have a p/t job.

We didn't at 16 they all got weekend and holiday jobs. We did treat them to shopping trips, paid for driving lessons, gave them taxi money if we couldn't fetch them. So there was no budget as such

Weekly, £40. It covers transport, food they eat out of the house, entertainment, gifts, non essential clothing.

When I was that age I was given my Child Benefit each week, on the proviso I went and fetched it from the post office. I think that seems reasonable, give or take a deduction for a phone bill.

I paid for bus pass, socialising, clothes etc and topped up with babysitting and a pt job.

Ds (17) has a part time job. He does more in holidays but during term time only weekend

His friends do too (state school) and he was very keen to earn

It’s been really good so far for him

I am a Foster Carer and LA SW has a chart that states £11.05 per week for 16. This is just for fun spending. Any food, phone top ups, clothes, toiletries, activities, cinema etc is paid for separately. We refer to it as ice cream money.

My 16yo dd gets £40 a month, I occasionally give her a bit extra for something specific and I still buy clothing essentials.

She needs to get a job (she is looking) for any other extras.