Allowance for 17 year old

[wilko20]

My 17 yo DS1 has opened negotiations for a new monthly allowance. I'm up for it (the current arrangement isn't clear enough about who pays for what) but want a sense of what others consider reasonable. His opening pitch is £120 per month to cover everything except school stuff and mobile phone - a mate of his gets that (and I've checked and it's true). This seems a lot to me. Views?

Talking of part-time jobs, when can they start working.

I thought it was paper-round from 13, other light work - shop/cafe from 14? But I've just been looking on our County website and it doesn't seem clear.

It says "Young people may only start part-time work when they are 14 years old although in exceptional circumstances (see below) they may be allowed to work at the age of 13."

There doesn't seem to be anything below about exceptional circumstances or 13 yr-olds?

i think its farm work

and family businesses (which is where I started aged 12)

DS(17) gets cb (£66 per month), but no EMA tops it up another £25ish by working 2 evenings a week. Has to cover everything including music lessons at £25 an hour, phone, clothes, trips out with mates, but not bus fares or school lunches- however he often takes pack ups/walks.
He manages very well, and saves a bit too.

Should have added ds is doing 4 A levels + working for 2 grade 8 musics before he leaves school. So not shelf stacking at the expense of studying as I think someone suggested.

My DS1 is 18 and gets £50 per month by direct debit. He has SN and attends FE college 3 days a week and the money covers his lunches and stationery with enough left over for the occasional trip to the cinema. DS2 is 16 and at 6th form college 5 days a week. We pay him £100 per month to cover 5 days per week lunches, stationery and trips out with mates etc. We pay their train fares and basic phone contracts (£10-15 per month). They don't buy many clothes and "father christmas" usually provides the years supply of socks and boxers. They buy clothes they want but if they needed something big like a new coat i think I would chip in. Anything else they have to earn; DS2 outside the home babysitting, waiter-ing etc and DS 1 (because of his special needs) does a lot of grass cutting and dog walking if he needs something.

Crikey this thread has scared the pants off me, I've 4 children and my eldest 14 year old has had 2 paper rounds for the last year and earns £20 per week it takes her half hour a morning before school and an extra 1 hour on a wednesday night, her sister age 13 also helps on a wednesday she earns £5 per week.
If they need anything I will pay out of the family allowance, I certainly wouldn't just give them the allowance at the moment but I do transfer it into their bank account so they can go clothes shopping but only when they need something.
I can't believe that parents still pay for phones etc when they are over 16, is this really the norm??

riven whys the bus 25 a week? isn't a weekly bus pas about £12?

DCs have all had jobs from babysitting at 12 to waitressing / busboy and odd-jobs. I have never given them an allowance. Makes them very keen to get work and not leave until they have the next job lined up. I pay up to a certain amount on jeans, up to a certain amount for shoes, all school and sports clothing requirements, a winter coat or jacket, or up to a certain amount on same. I also buy cheap basic underwear, and toiletries.

Exceptional circumstances might also refer to modelling or acting.

My daughter is also doing 4 A levels.. is taking up a place to do medicine... still has to work for her money! Even those studying need to learn to balance their study and financial lives, else it will be a real shock at uni when it's essential to work!
It's not about working at the expense of studying , it's about training for independent adulthood Without exception , my daughter's high achieving school friends ALL work for their money.. one going to the Royal College of music, two potential docs, and one off to Cambridge..so they all need outstanding results..

Plus I couldn't afford my daughter's makeup anyway...grin

Time management is a huge skill to learn, as is getting on with the job no matter whether you enjoy it or like your boss or whatever. I agree with Macforme, there are a lot of invaluable lessons to be learned 'on the job'.

My just turned (Jan) 18 year old gets £10 a week, no EMA and she earns the rest.

I pay for her travel, toiletries (not make up) some clothes,computer, mobile phone and rental, any costs re college, trips etc but mostly she pays for them herself out of money she has earned. We also give her good pressies at Christmas and birthday (things she wouldn't be able to afford)

My eldest is at uni and her student loan pays for most of her rent ( we pay £1500 per year towards it) and then we pay her £60 per week to live on and £20 per week to pay towards her bills (electricity heating etc) She doesn't work while at uni, but does in the holidays

When she was at home we did the same as my youngest and she earned money too with jobs , we will do the same when my youngest go to uni in September.

The logic is that they appreciate the value of money, I could give them more, but tbh they don't need more, they have everything they need, but they have to work a bit for it.

Lets hope it works, we have yet to see....

seems like a lot to me, although it does depend how many gigs they go to. We give ours very little (but drive them to school and pay for quite a bit for them) and if their homework isn't in on time they'd lose that. I have been intending to add what we spend on them (music lessons, sports clubs, etc) and give them that as an allowance but haven't been organised enough to keep details of clothes.

If they want 120 month it should cover mobile phone and school stuff other than residential trips.

Maximum EMA is 30 pounds a week in term time plus 2 bonuses of 100 pounds in January and July. I think I may base their allowance on that, averaged over the year.

Less money = less to spend on drink and drugs.

Don't give him unreal expectations by giving him that much money, as others say he'll be in for a nasty shock when he starts uni.

To put it in context my 21 year old is in her first graduate job. After rent, bills, phone and other things you would provide him with such as food she says she has £50 a week. So £200ish a month, that is for someone with a full time job. And unlike a 6th former that money isn't just for fun - a car to run, any train travel, holidays, work clothes to buy, christmas gifts etc.

She's doing well and I'm proud of her, she never got an allowence (£40 a month) as she had to have a tidy bedroom. Never happened so no money, She's always worked as did all of her friends. Kids who just study don't look like great all rounders, there's time for jobs as well.

If you can afford this allowence then great but I'd link it to jobs around the house at least. And think if youd like your money drunk or if you'd rather give him a bit less and save some for uni, first house etc - something with real memories!

God essay, sorry!

My 18 year old gets between £60 and £80 per month but from that she must buy
her bus pass so often cycles, and her mobile phone, clothes and entertainment.She also takes a packed lunch.She never turns down offers of baby sitting so whilst this sporadic it funds occasional pizzas with friends etc.
Clothes usually come via gift cards at Christmas or occasional gifts from me.I buy toiletries and also pay for all theatre trips(she's doing theatre studies at A level)
she is on a tight budget but as other posters have mentioned she appreciates the value of money.

I agree with all those who say he should get a pt job.

We stopped dd, 17's allowance last summer - she sat around all summer making no effort to find work or work experience while lots of her friends were working.

I offered to pay her to clean the house at £8 an hour, which she did once or twice and did a good job but lost interest when her birthday came and she had money from other people.

She now works 2 shifts a week at a restaurant, and a night's babysitting. She's academic and hoping to attend a good university but although she's busy with AS levels as well I think the time she's lost would've been spent on Facebook rather than schoolwork.

We pay all education-related expenses including her school meals and music lessons, have funded her driving lessons and added her to our car insurance (which saves us time), and of course she lives here for nothing! We also pay £10 a month for her mobile phone contract. Anything else - clothes, going out etc she has to pay for.

Since she's had the job, she had matured a lot and I'd say there are benefits beyond just the income.

Unfortunately, our 17 year old doesn't qualify for EMA - we were led to believe he would when he started college. (I think they should all get it or not but that's another matter).

I'm now in the position of trying to find work for my son on top of all his studying which he's finding hard to keep on top of anyway cos I can tell he's getting moody and argumentative with me!

Me and my husband both work and earn just over the £30,000 but that's before tax. Just because we work doesn't mean we can afford to keep giving money out here and there as we have another two to keep too.

I know he's 17 and at 17 I was working in a bank and contributing to my parents but I really want my son to go university and he does too. He would be the first in the family but if he's gonna have to work now he may as well be working full-time to cover his costs if you see what I mean.

oh my god, reading some of these posts on here im amazed at how some of your kids are!

my kids had their pocket money [£40 a month+cheap contract phones] stopped when they finished school, after their GCSE's, then they were told to get a job!

if they are old enough to earn their own cash, i dont see why giving it to them is going to help?
and considering a part time job is usually about 14 hours a week [and this is talking to a lot of parents]
which doesnt intrude on sixth form studies, i think some people out there are being 'had' by their teens, unless you sit and watch your child do 4 hours of homework every day, i fail to see how it could ruin their studies!

mine had jobs from 16.
i paid for toiletries [not makeup, who the hell buys their kids makeup??] food, HOUSE stuff.
and i asked for rent off each [30 a month] and they paid their own phone bills, they got great contracts and if they went over that was their problem!
[my 17 DS has just managed to get a bill for £50...got to be a girl involved methinks!]
i would never pay for cinema trips, train tickets, gig tickets etc. if they want to go places, do stuff that isnt vital, then its up to them to save for it!
they did get festival/gig tickets for birthdays if they asked.
oh, and i only buy v. basic clothing, like basic pants/socks, a good solid pair of jeans or a winter coat. if my DD wants fancy undies and my DS wants any Topman rubbish they can pay for it themselves!

and im not apologising for saying this, my kids know the value of money, because they know that real life is a hell of a lot tougher than sixth form/uni and that noone is going to help them out when they finish! why when they can earn money would you give them an allowance, WHY?

cant believe any of you pay for cinema trips etc, WHY???

Son gets £30 EMA per week.

We give him £12 to part-cover his lunch at sixth form college (but he is free to make and take any packed lunch extra he wants)

I top up his phone £10 per month.

His bus-pass is free.

He is trying desperately to get a job so as to get some savings before he goes to uni.

BritFish, I didn't work through college because I was doing a vocational media course that took up a lot of my time, planning shoots, filming at weekends, essays for the A-Levels I did do etc. I get DLA and that's IT!

I'm now in my second year of uni, I pay my own tuition fees, pay for all my materials, and had summer jobs the last 2 years, the money from which was saved.

So, even though I didn't work in college, I sure am now!

Wish someone would give me £120 a month though...

My 17 year old gets £50 a month plus phone contract and never asks for extra. He doesn't have a regular job as he plays sport for school most Saturdays, is doing 4 A levels and plays rugby for local club on Sunday. If he runs out of money, which he does regularly, he babysits, does waitering etc etc on an ad hoc basis for family and neighbours. He is very good at printing out money saving vouchers off the internet!I wouldn't give him more as I want him to learn to budget. After GCSEs he had to earn his 'holiday money' which he did. I don't believe in taking away the monthly allowance (unless for financial reasons) when my son does earn though. I do think there can be a middle ground between working during a school week and no work at all!!
How on earth are kids going to learn how the real world works if they get given so much?

I don't agre with stopping allowences as soon as a young person finishes thier GCSe's. DD3 is 18 she is still at college and we still give her £30 a month allowence. We also pay for all college expenses and her Drama club fees. The rule for her is as it was for her sisters is that we will carry on giving her the allowence until she gets a job. But she has to work hard at college and also show us that she is trying to get a job. She does both these things and has applied for several jobs with out success.DD2 2o is at uni. We pay for her accomadation but all other living costs icluding any equipment she needs for uni are paid out of her student loan. She also has been trying to get a part time job. She had an interview with weatherspoons but didn't hear back from them. Jobs are not easy to get now and even posts at Macdonalds have hundreds of Apllicants,