Do children need to recieve an allowance for doing chores?

I think it doesn’t matter either way. Some families do it, some don’t, and I don’t see much difference. I especially don’t see a difference in how the kids handle money. It might make a difference that the child might make an extra effort to keep his room clean if he gets $5 for it. I don’t like when kids are given too many chores, but too many would obviously be a grey line of what is considered too many. Paying children for doing above and beyond their usual duties, a special project, I think is a good thing. That teaches more than getting an allowance because you brought your dishes to the table and kept your room clean in my opinion. But, again I am fine either way regarding allowance.

I don’t like the idea of allowances.

You help around the house because we’re a team and we work together here.

I give you money when you need it because that’s part of my responsibility as a parent and you’re too young to work.

It’s called a token achievement system, and no it’s not necessary.

It’s not the allowance itself.

Rather, the lesson (for the child) should be two fold:

1) work, any work, should be compensated for an/or rewarded. Uncompensated work is slavery. Getting some sort of allowance shows that work has value. More and better work should result in more and better allowance.

2) no work is undignified. All work has value. Even the CEO of GE started out by cleaning toilets. Learn , master, and move up

If we don’t give allowances to children for work, and if we don’t reward good work, then we teach lessons of socialism. And we all know how that ends.

I don’t like the concept of an allowance, and I expect my kids to do chores. But what are “chores”? They’re the things that are required for a family to function. I believe it is important for my kids to learn that it takes work to maintain a clean house. It takes work to cook dinner and have plates to eat off of. If I were to exempt my kids from contributing to the work that is required for our family to function, I don’t think I would be doing anyone a favor. And if I were to pay them money for doing these things, I believe it would teaching them an awful lesson. I would be teaching them that it is not their responsibility.

@elbanditoroso Do you get paid for the chores you do around the house?

@JLeslie – as a 55+ year old adult with the kids out of the house, the answer is – not any more. But adults are different than kids,

When I was a kid (and even into my teens) there was compensation. Not always money; sometimes a movie, sometimes going to a ball game, etc. But there was a clear connection between “get the work done” and “here’s something for the effort”.

When my kids were growing up, we did something similar. Certain tasks were just assumed, but if they did something special – maybe sorting/folding laundry because I hated doing that – there was some reward.

@elbanditoroso So, basically what I said in my first answer; extra projects received compensation. I actually don’t consider that allowance. The word allowance to me is a regular set amount of money a kid gets usually weekly. Some parents take it away or reduce it if the child did not carry their weight with the “chores” they were expected to do. You were paying your children for work outside of their usual responsibiliies. Or, did I misunderstand?

Laughs. Let me give you my father’s response when my mother suggested they pay me for work on the farm: “I’ll be goddamned if I’ll pay my son for working like I had to growing up.” Needless to say I didn’t get an allowance. I never really minded either.

My kids have regular chores and do not get paid an allowance, mostly because at this point we truly can’t afford to give them one – every penny goes to sustaining the household. Once I get a job they will probably receive some compensation. It won’t be huge, but we’ll pay them something.

The reason is twofold:

1) To teach them the value of a dollar and help them learn to manage money. They have savings accounts and when they do get money (as gifts, etc.) they are an encouraged to donate a portion, save some and spend a tiny bit. I really, really wish my parents had taken the time to teach me these things and reinforce the lessons.

2) To help them learn the value of hard work. I believe there are important lessons to be taught by having kids to chores and compensating them for their efforts.

@Adirondackwannabe I think most people think however they were raised regarding allowance was just fine. I didn’t get allowance and I think it was fine. I did get one for several months in Jr. high, because I asked my dad for one. I decided the amount and he agreed and it was not connected to chores at all, it was just him giving me my money at the beginning of the week and I budgeted it. I think he liked the idea of the exercise. But, the allowance paid for all my regular expenses all week, including lunch. It wasn’t extra spending money, although I did have some money left over outside of regular expenses that I could soend or save at my discretion.

We never did allowances in our house. My kids did chores because if they didn’t, they didn’t get what they wanted from me. It was always a co-op effort. In addition, I ran a cleaning business, and when the kids refused to do their chores, I took them to work with me and made them help me there, and they STILL had those nasty chores to do! They hated it, but boy, they learned how to work.

When they got old enough, they found jobs outside of the house. They have thanked me over and over since then, because their bosses always give them glowing reviews for their work ethics.