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

[optimisticmumma]

whoops!

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

Having virtually no pocket money was the reason I went shop lifting as a child. Each time it was for a birthday present. I did it three times (for Grandma, little sister and a friend) and I can still remember vividly the things I took, and how frightened and miserable I was. I regret it even yet.
That is why is has always given me enormous pleasure to give the dcs a reasonable amount of pocket money to spend at their discretion, regardless of what they have done to help (they do help anyway). I know I am lucky to be able to do this, but I would go without a lot before I didn't. I think it is very important for lots of reasons, not least self respect.

My parents always said we could have money if we asked, but we never asked because we assumed we were very, very poor.

[LadyFoof]

Well money is really really tight, and she's looking forward to doing it - she'll almost definitely earn more than we can afford to pay her. FWIW I'm really proud of her because she's being really enterprising, she's told me that the more experience she gets before she really has to go out to work the better.

It's how me and DH were brought up too, ok it was the 70's/80's but are things really a lot different? We fitted in homework and a social life, we learned to get up of our backsides and work for what we wanted. I don't know if it's related but we've never been unemployed (apart from voluntarily with the DC's!) and DH has avoided redundancy multiple times.

Or maybe our parents were evil!

[LadyFoof]

sorry OFF our backsides!

[cory]

tbh I am not necessarily sure a weekend job is always such a boon
it depends on what the child want to do after school
when I was at school, all my friends had weekend jobs, with the result that they
a)had little time to do extra reading outside of their homework
b)became used to always having money in their pocket

I had had some health problems, so my parents were not keen for me to work.
When we went to uni, I found myself at a definite advantage because:

a) the reading and other activities I had spent my time on were a better preparation for university studies than shelf-stacking, so I found the academic work much easier

b) I was used to spending very little money; my friends who had had lots of extra money since the age of 14 found it virtually impossible to keep within a student loan budget or to get enough time to study and work as much as they needed to maintain their lifestyle. I though I was rich!

[seeker]

I don't normally say things like this (I'm a believer in independence and letting them get on with it) - but I don"t think I want my 13 year old "getting off her backside and working for what she wanted". She's 13 - she's got years to go out doing boring stuff to earn money!

[janeite]

I agree with Seeker.

[ScaryFucker]

I wouldn't want my 13 yo to get a job outside the home. She is still my ikkle girl, albeit a hoovering, dusting, cleaning one !

Too young, IMO

Plenty of time for that when she is 15/16

[inthesticks]

While I think 13 is too young to have much of a part time job I think some experience of real life is essential.
I have done recruitment of graduates and found those who had never had any work experience at all were at a disadvantage. Those who had done part time jobs in shops , restaurants and so on, could draw on that experience for their CV or interview.

[mumeeee]

Surfermum youtr stepdaughter is getting a rather large amount. DD3 17 gets £30 a month. We pay all college expenses,including any equipment ( she's doing DOE this year so needs waterproofs.flece etc) she might need,fees for her drama clubs,and towards youth club trips. I also pay for basic toiltries and her sanitory products.
She has to pay for everything else incuding mobile top up although I do sometimes pay towards this.
She has to take turns in cleaning the bathroom and do other chores whan asked. She can earn extra money by ironing (it's a job I hate)I pay her 25p per item. She also gets extra money when MIL comes to visit. She also has to try and get a part time job ,which she is doing.

[mumeeee]

Seekr. You can't get a Paper round until your are 14 now ( it is actaully illegal ) and most other jobs won't take under 16's. There is a lot of restrictions on 14 to 16 year olds working hours.

[janeite]

Dd1 gets 20p per item for ironing!

[nappyaddict]

Most 14 year olds I know make extra money by doing ironing, cleaning, gardening, car washing, babysitting for their families, family friends and neighbours. Paper rounds seem few and far between. A couple work in the corner shop or the hairdressers washing and sweeping up but again not many.

[IloveJudgeJudy]

Yes, you can get a paper round here (Kent) from when you're 13, but you're not allowed to start before 7 am. The form from the paper shop does get sent to the school so that they know that the child has a round. My son (15) has had a 7-day paper round for 1 1/2 years. He started asking at the paper shop as soon as he hit 13.
It took him 6 months to get one. It's been hard work for him as that means no lie-ins, but he does like the money. He has now become a football referee and gets paid for that so his sister (12, nearly 13) does the Sunday round for him. She gets £3.00 for that. He wants to give up after Christmas and we're hoping that she will just be able to take it over as she will be 13 then.
It's been a great life and budgeting lesson for them both. It has taught my son that he has to go to bed at a reasonable time or he won't want to get up the next day for his round. He does have to get up for it as the shop really depends on him. He also knows that there are lots of people who would like his round so he does have to dependable. He has saved up and bought himself loads of stuff such as an X-Box, a state of the art phone, I-Pod Touch, etc and because he has paid for it himself, he takes extra special care of it. I am very proud of him (as I am of my other children).
We don't pay for chores, the children just have to do them.
We can't afford pocket money, but pay for everything they need until they're 13. If they want any particular clothing item after that, then they have to pay or I might pay half. we still pay for all toiletries, school uniform and basic clothing. Every now and then as a treat I will top up their phones, but not regularly. We just can't afford it.

[JohnL]

Help!
I have a 15 year old dd and just had huge upset over money. Normally give her £10 per week plus pay for top ups, clothes, drama group and trampoline sessions. Problem is friends birthday and Christmas presents. Older sisters (students) have asked her to contribute to joint christmas present for me and she is in tears as she has no money. What do I do? what is reasonable for 15 year old? (she can get a job at 16) but for now nothing going. feeling a complete failure at the moment as i'm letting her down - any answers?????

[cory]

My parents used to slip us a bit of extra money for Christmas presents: I think you can do that without totally undermining your general rules on allowances.

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

JohnL £10 plus all those extras sounds more than reasonable to me already. (More than my dcs get). I suggest what she needs is a loan to see her through Christmas and to learn to budget a bit better afterwards.

[risingstar]

dd1 is 14, we give her £35 pm into a bank account, £10 a month into a savings account attached to her bank account.

this has proved a good move. she hasnt touched it for 18 months and now has £180. I always suggested that she doesnt spend this on day to day but uses it as a back up, so if she loses her phone/breaks a computer game etc she has the money to replace it.

Funnily enough, she hasnt lost her phone in all that time and has now decided to splash some of her savings on a nice new posh one ( the other one is worn out!).

however, she babysits for us for little sister every now and again and has the full expectation that at 16 after gcses will be spending saturdays sitting on a till!!!!

her room is a tip though......

[seeker]

dd gets £20 a month paid into her bank account. That is her money to do what she wants with - I buy essential clothes, lunches and fares. Her phone is on a contract with 500 texts a month - she's never quite used that up!

She also works at the stables on Saturday mornings and Monday evenings, where she gets paid £3.50 an hour.

I feel very strongly (hobby horse of mine - most people disagree!) that pocket money shouldn't be linked to chores. Everyone needs a bit of money to get by - dd's main job in school and having fun and growing up - I give her some money to help her do that.

HOWEVER-and this is a big however - I also strongly believe that if you live in a community you contribute to it. So my children probably do more jobs at home than many. But they do them because we all live her and we all contribute to making things run smoothly (ish). It's not linked to their pocket money.

[Peugeot206]

Hi all, I'm sorry but I'm new to this forum having just joined. I have a real interest in this thread at the moment, but could somebody clarify what "dd" "dsd" etc mean? Thanks!!

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Hi, this is a very old thread, you might be better off starting a new one about this as I'm sure the rates of pocket money will have gone up now :)

DD is Dear Daughter, DSD is Dear Step Daughter I think.

There is a list of all these somewhere but can't remember where - maybe someone can add a link?

[Peugeot206]

Ah yes. Well thanks :)