Pocket money for 13 year olds (year 8)

[posey]

Just wondering how much is the going rate, what they have to do with it, (eg phone top ups, clothes,etc) and do they have to earn it.
Thanks

[Surfermum]

I know! She does put her things in the dishwasher .

[ScaryFucker]

[posey]

Thanks very much for all that. Seems most are on similarish amounts and are expected to do similarish things to earn it.
We had thought £15 per month and think we are probably on right track.
Thank you.

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

DD1 gets £20 a month into her bank account to cover phone, make-up, any clothes she wants but doesn't need, magazines, outings with friends. She hardly spends anything because she is saving for an Ipod Nano. It works out really well, because it has made her aware of how all the little fripperies really add up.

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

DD (12) year 8 gets £20 per month into bank, it is supposed to cover phone as well. She does routine chores, but extra ones like cutting grass, cleaning car earn her 2 or 3 pounds more on top.

[seeker]

I'm a lone voice here. My children have pocket money - dd 13 gets 20 pounds a month and ds 8 gets 10 pounds a month. And they are expected to do quite a lot of jobs round the house. But the two things are not in any way connected. I think they should contribute to the family community because they are members of it, not because they are paid to do it. And I think they should have some money because you can't get by without any, not because they have earned it. They do get extra money for extra jobs - just not for every day, setting the table, taking the rubbish out, tidying your room watching your little brother sort of things.

As I said, I am a lone voice. But it works for us.

[Slambang]

Not sure you're really a lone voice seeker. Most people seem to have similar-ish set ups. I agree that dcs should be doing their fair share of household jobs without being paid but becuase they are a member of the house.

Ds gets his allowance for his extra job (hoovering) on top of all the normal things he'd be expected to do as part of daily life (lay the table, help load dishwasher, tidy his room etc). Hoovering wasn't something he'd previously been asked to do and we introduced it as a requirement when we started his bank payments.

[SlartyBartFast]

what a generous lot you are.

dd, admittedly 12, but year 8 gets 7.50 per month.
half of ds, who is 14.
dd, aged 9 gets half of dd, when i remember

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

That's exactly how it works for us, Seeker. They have always helped and expected to help- and they do it quite cheerfully too. It is just the over-and-aboves they get paid for.

[jemart]

I used to get £20 a month - when Dad remembered to let me have it - but that was back in the 1990's. Surely pocket money has gone up with inflation?
My dd is not old enough yet for pocket money but I fully expect it to cost me atleast £10 a week.

[nappyaddict]

£10 a week is easily spent once they start secondary school and start going out with their friends on their own. When I used to go out to the cinema on a Saturday I spent £3.30 on the bus, £1 on a sandwich and £5.10 on cinema ticket. Orange Wednesday is good but not everyone is on Orange so it wouldn't make a difference. If we just wondered around the shops I knew I could afford a drink in Starbucks after like everyone else. I knew if we went to the cinema then I couldn't.

[ScaryFucker]

yep, a tenner is easily spent

cinema ticket, plus MaccyD's, plus sweets for the film, plus a mag and busfare = all gone

[cory]

We give our nearly-13yo £11`a month. This has to pay for sweets, non-essential clothes, any eating out, DVDs, CDs, books and gifts other than what she gets for her birthdays and name days (3 name days/year=small paperback or similar). I will pay for a bus ticket into town a couple of times a month. Mobile phone only used in emergencies, otherwise she will have to pay for top-ups.

She usually spends it on films and books.

To be frank, dh and I can't afford regular cinema visits and eating out for ourselves, so dd just has to accept that this isn't something this family runs to. Going to uni and having to live on a student loan is going to be difficult for her if she has already acquired expensive habits. I remember having had a great advantage over my fellow students because I was used to handle money (monthly allowance) but I was not used to having lots of money to spend on luxuries. Most of my friends had had Saturday jobs in Sixth form and spent all the money on having fun: suddenly trying to live on a small student loan was very difficult for them.

Fortunately, not all dd's friends' families are rich either, so there is not too much competition.

[colditz]

I used to get £40 a month, in exchange for a lot of babysitting and some chores. this was 1995 though

[thepumpkineater]

We started giving DS2 (13) a monthly allowance, 30 pounds I think, at his request to pay for everything like cinema, phone, clothes etc, but then we kept forgetting and he didn't really need that much.

So now we pay 10 pounds a month for his phone, which gives him some kind of deal where he gets 'free' texts. The rest of the time we just pay if he goes to the cinema with friends. However he hasn't reached the stage yet where he needs lots of money of his own. He doesn't really go out as such, just to friends houses for sleepovers or whatever, no money needed as far as I can see.

Doesn't need to do chores to earn his money either. I just expect him help me with things if I ask him

[LadyFoof]

Can I just ask, those of you who give pocket money - can't kids get part-time jobs at 13? I only ask because we've told DD (nearly 12) that when she reaches 13, the pocket money stops because she'll be old enough to start earning some money for herself. She seems OK with this, in fact she's already planning what she'll do and how she'll fit it in around school!

[PlumpkinScaryBaps]

DS1 (13) gets £15 a month into his account from DH, £7.50 a month from me (cash). We also pay £25 a month for his contract phone.

I think he gets extra from his father/granny when he sees them, which hasn't been for over 2 months atm.

He is supposed to replace any lost items such as pens/locker keys/front door keys/school stuff and buy his own sweets etc. But he isn't interested in clothes and anyway we wouldn't expect him to buy those out of his pocket money. He usually buys things like new games or name changes (or something) on the xbox.

He is expected to do some chores but this isn't linked to pocket money.

[PlumpkinScaryBaps]

LadyFoof- I don't know about 13, but we've told ds that if he wants more money from his 14th birthday in Feb then he can get a little job. I'm not sure what there is apart from newspaper rounds though.

[thepumpkineater]

Jobs for 13 year olds are almost non-existent, I would think. Health and safety and all that......

[PixiNanny]

Wow, you're all fairer than my parents! Once we hit 16 we HAD to get ourselves a job as our pocket money ended! I was getting £5-10 a week, depending on if I was meeting my friend's 'up town', where the train fare was £5 in itself (we had no other option as we went to school 'up town' and friends lived there, unlike us!) My Mum would occasionally give me extra, but I earnt a bit through babysitting as well. My little sister (two years below me at school, 15 months between us) got the better end of the deal (and I got a better deal then my older sister )

Now my parents lend all three of us money if we need it but we usually have to pay them back promptly!

My host parents are terrible with their kids pocket money. The youngest ones pocket money is often forgotten about, and the oldest one is constantly getting new things, even though he got a years worth of pocket money to budget himself (on his request) earlier this year. He does no chores around the house what-so-ever. Oh he'll learn one day (I hope!)

[PixiNanny]

Paper rounds aren't supposed to be given to under 14's anymore if I remember rightly?

[LadyFoof]

Why's that? They're desperate for paper boys/girls round here!

[itsbeingsofearful]

My DD2 is 13 and Y8. She gets money for chores, hoovering, ironing and for helping out with DS - walking him to football etc. She only gets what she earns, so will do more if wants more. But it doesn't often add up to more than £15 a month.

But on top of that we do top up her phone at £20 a month and buy essential clothes and toiletries.