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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

How much money do you give to your 16 year old per week?

38 replies

Pinkelephant2025 · 05/06/2026 00:28

My daughter is complaining I don’t give her enough money. I send her over money a lot and feel this is unfair. How much is reasonable to give a 16 year old per week?

OP posts:
whyisitraining123 · 05/06/2026 00:31

I give mine £5 per day lunch and £20 per week. I buy basic clothes (ie 4-5 complete outfits per season), a winter coat and 1-2 pairs of shoes per year plus all toiletries. I also pay for her bus fares
She buys other clothes, make up, spotify etc

Bristolandlazy · 05/06/2026 13:56

Could she get a job if she's feeling hard done by. Or sell clothes on eBay etc. I doubt there's a correct amount. Some parents have more money than others and some are more generous than others. I was working part time at that age as was my youngest daughter. Sometimes we were very tight for money when my daughters were growing up and they knew that's how it was, they didn't ever question what we could spend or how much they were given, I didn't ever question any money my parents gave me either as I knew things were very difficult for them financially.
If you give her a lot of money, then surely it's a budgeting problem she has or buying things she can't justify.

PedanticPrincess · 05/06/2026 14:07

£10 a week and extra if she needs bus fare, food money etc

SevenKingsMustDie · 08/06/2026 10:30

Have just come across this thread and it’s really interesting…in terms of how much less we give DD, even though we could afford more!

ofcolitas · 08/06/2026 10:35

Mine earns about £800 a month from his week-end job so he just gets to keep all that I do pay for his bus pass though as he needs it to get to college in the week and his dad pays for his phone. He's got it easy really.

arethereanyleftatall · 08/06/2026 10:35

Nothing. But I pay for extra curricula and phone. She is old enough to get a part time job, so if she wants more money, she can do that. She can also do literally any ‘big’ type job for me around the house, eg wash my car, or wash the windows, for £10 an hour.

PenelopePinkerton · 08/06/2026 10:36

£25

tourdefrance · 08/06/2026 10:41

£50 a month and I currently pay for his phone contract (basic giffgaff £8/month sim only).
Nearly finished school but I put about £5-10 a month on the canteen account for snacks a few times a week but main lunch comes from home.
I'm still buying all clothing but he has no interest in brands etc.

magistramater · 08/06/2026 10:48

In all honesty, none. I paid for her phone, her essentials, food trips etc. But by 16 she was expected to get herself a part time job, to pay for the things she wanted.

Don't get me wrong, getting a job wasn’t easy. We live rurally and there aren’t many jobs near us. So she applied to the local town (15 miles away). Applied for all the jobs at a local shopping mall. Initially heard nothing back from any of them. So we had a change of strategy. She sent in personalised job applications to every job going (with detailed reasons why she wanted to work for that particular shop - AI is fab at helping with this!). Then I drove her in to the mall, and she walked around every shop with a paper cv, and asked to speak to the manager in every store. She then introduced herself, and asked whether the store manager had any questions about her job application. Most immediately turned her away. She hated doing it, but after months of hearing nothing, within days, she suddenly had 3 interviews, two job offers and selected a job she happily worked at for two years.

She’s just started at uni and has had to start again looking for jobs. Although she cursed me the first time… this time her immediate strategy was to walk round the shops and introduce herself to all the managers. Again, she quickly got a job, whilst many of her friends moan they can’t get work. It’s hard, but they have to put themselves out there.

redskyAtNigh · 08/06/2026 10:54

A key question is what the money has to cover. If you're expecting her to use it just for socialising and you cover everything else, the amount will differ from that you'll need to give her if you also expect her to cover clothes, toiletries, transport, clubs etc etc

I also agree with others that she should look for a part time job. There are typically more opportunities available once 16, so post GCSE is an ideal time to try to find something.

SirChenjins · 08/06/2026 10:55

We didn't - we gave him school lunch money obviously, and then paid for things like his phone, Spotify, basic clothes, toiletries etc. Then we would look at individual requests for money and decide if it was reasonable (trip to the local cinema fine, expensive Nike top just cos, not fine), or whether he needed to save by earning the money doing jobs round the house and garden. It seemed work. He was very lucky because he then got a job in a fancy clothes shop through a friend when he was almost 17, so he got free and discounted clothes and regular money.

converseandjeans · 08/06/2026 11:07

I give £5/week pocket money & my Mum gives £5/week pocket money.

Then I pay phone, gym £27/month, football club membership for 2 teams £40/month & fifa £6.99/month.

Usually give a bit extra for McDonald’s or something if he is going out.

He works to get extra money for football season ticket, away games & fancy clothes he likes.

Comefromaway · 08/06/2026 11:34

Is she still at school or is she at college or does she have a job?

With dd when she was 16 she lived away from home in order to attend a specialist college. I gave her £35 per week from which she had to buy lunches at college (or stuff to make a packed lunch up. ) toiletries and socialising. I paid her mobile phone contract. This was back in 2019 so I reckon today she's probably be given about £40 per week.

Ds lived at home, attended a local college (I drove him there each day) and I paid for his phone, provided lunches and piano lessons. Basic clothes and toiletries were provided for him. I gave him £10 per week which increased to £12 when he was 17, but if it was now I would probably give him around £15.

I always used to use the pocket money allowances for children i care as a guide as those sums were meant to keep those children on a level with their peers.

Kneenightmare · 08/06/2026 12:05

ofcolitas · 08/06/2026 10:35

Mine earns about £800 a month from his week-end job so he just gets to keep all that I do pay for his bus pass though as he needs it to get to college in the week and his dad pays for his phone. He's got it easy really.

Where did he get a job that pays so much?!

familyissues12345 · 08/06/2026 12:09

My 17 year old DS has his child benefit money, so roughly £105 per month. He worked over the Christmas period and saved a lot, so most of the CB money is just mounting up. I’m hoping he’ll have a nice pot ready for when he starts uni next year.

His money has to cover outings with friends, all of his gym nutrition stuff (protein etc) and his Xbox membership.

We pay for his gym, phone and he has a bus pass for college which also can be used at the weekend.

Kneenightmare · 08/06/2026 12:11

DS starts sixth form college in September- we are planning to give £60 per month, plus £40 to save towards driving lessons plus he’ll still get money saved to his Junior ISA. We also pay bus pass £60 per month - we have to pay adult fares due to some stupid rules around where you pay your council tax🙈, Spotify, mobile phone and essential clothes. A small fortune. He’s hoping to get an apprenticeship at 18 so hopefully we’ll avoid uni costs which we are paying for DD from September. He also wants a part time job when he turns 16 but I know they are hard to get.

CantMakerHerThink · 08/06/2026 12:17

Mine is 17 and now driving. We give her £75 a week for everything including petrol, lunches, trips out. I buy her 3-4 cheap outfits every summer and 3 decent winter outfits for Xmas ( Ed hardy jeans, urban outfits jumpers etc)

dontmalbeconme · 08/06/2026 12:22

At that age we gave ours £100/m, plus we paid for phone, essential clothes and clubs (including kit and trips) and driving lessons once they turned 17. Lunches were included with school fees, and they didn't have any school transport costs.

CantMakerHerThink · 08/06/2026 12:26

Kneenightmare · 08/06/2026 12:05

Where did he get a job that pays so much?!

We are surrounded by country hotels and lovely village pubs and if you can drive or if you can get a lift you can you earn a bomb. My DDs best friend works in a hotel waiting tables Adhd now doing bar work and despite being just turned 18 he’s taken home anywhere between £800-1200 a month depending on college holidays etc. December just gone he took him an extra £400 for working every unsociable shift he could. I was really impressed by him, he’s saved up £6k in one year and 7k in his second and still paid his own car insurance and running Costs. He’s due to start an apprenticeship in September and I just know he’s going to go really far and achieve amazing things. In the mean time I’m Struggling to get my adhd dd to put her dirty clothes in the laundry hamper 😭

CandidRaven · 08/06/2026 12:32

My 17 year old gets 100 a month and she pays her phone and anything she wants out of that, we got her a student bus pass so she doesnt need to pay for buses so can travel as she likes without having to spend her money but we've made it clear that is what she gets and if it runs out then it runs out, it usually lasts her the entire month as she isn't a big spender

VivienneDelacroix · 08/06/2026 12:35

He gets £40 a month, plus his phone paid for.

Monty36 · 08/06/2026 12:46

When I was young I was given an allowance. This was for clothes and shoes etc. It wasn’t loads so I used to buy my clothes often from catalogues. But it gave me a good education in learning to budget.
I worked part time aged 16 ( Saturday job ) in a supermarket so that was my spending money week to week.
My parents fed me and that was that.

TheJaneyB · 08/06/2026 13:14

I was coming on to ask this exact question. We want to move our daughter to a monthly allowance that includes clothes (except school uniform and underwear), any going out, make up, treats, lunches etc. we are in a very fortunate position in that we can afford to do this but I want to get the balance right to make sure she isn’t spoiled and appreciates it but also learns how to budget etc.

Pinkelephant2025 · 08/06/2026 13:45

@Comefromawayshes at college and has been applying for jobs, had one interview the other week but didn’t get the job and went into ‘I’ll never get a job no one will want me’ mentality 🤦🏻‍♀️ think it was just one of those moments where she was obviously disappointed and went into a bit of a rant with me saying I don’t give her enough money which I got very offended and angry at her because I do give her enough! She has her standard £20 a week plus her phone paid for and top ups when she goes out with her friends etc. Apparently all her friends are given a lot more so I wanted to ask the question on here and now can see everybody else is about the same too. Thank you for all your replies!

OP posts:
Comefromaway · 08/06/2026 15:58

At £20 per week presuming you provide clothes and basic toiletries is on the higher end of what most young people I know get.

We only gave my son £68 per week at uni and he had to buy all his food from that (his loan went entirely on rent).

When my son was at college he had no interest in buying his own clothes etc. My daughter did like to buy her own things plus as I said before she was lodging with a family away from home so £40-£45 per week would be a good sum to cover lunches, toiletries and clothes.

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