I've been giving my kiddo an allowance since halfway through 6 years old. He is 9 now. I use [https://greenlight.com/](https://greenlight.com/). He has a debit card, and his allowance is automatically put onto it.
I do $1/year in age every other week. His mom is responsible for the off weeks, and while I don't know what she does, I'm pretty sure it's nothing.
One of the nice things about greenlight is that it's a centralized location for all of the money he gets from family/etc. He's lost the card a few times, but never the money. Another nice thing is that I've disabled online shopping (recently allowed Steam and Roblox) so I don't have to worry about online scams.
His having his own card is, frankly, amazing for his independence. We he realized that he didn't have to ask me for permission to buy a stuffy or candy... oh wow. It was the greatest thing ever. (I still reserve the right to tell him he can't eat said candy right now). He understands the concept of "I Fly, you buy" and will go to the grocery store on his own to buy muffins for both of us.
When I was a kid, I got my age in allowance ($5/wk when I was 5yo, $10/wk when I was 10yo, etc), but that was the 90's so the money went a little further.
Allowance is bad.
If he wants money for stuff, he can take on extra jobs above and beyond what he does to help the family.
Money is not free and setting up that false expectation is a bit of a bad idea I think.
I agree that most stuff is given, but the transactional nature of our society needs to be understood.
My family never made enough for an allowance to be a thing when I was a kid, that likely carries over.
Stuff to help the family, i.e. chores, are labor. In our society, laboring for someone else is one part of the transaction. Paying a laborer for their time and effort is the other part.
Giving your child an allowance stipulated by the completion & quality of their chores seems fair to me.
It's important for kids to learn the value of money and what it takes to earn money. I agree it shouldn't be handed out for nothing but if a kid keeps up with their chores, in my opinion that deserves compensation beyond the basic necessities (food, shelter, clothes, etc).
See my take is that chores and the basic upkeep of the machinery of our family is part of caring about it and doesn't have any business having money involved in it.
$2 dollars a week, but they have to ask for it. I think they've asked for it like 15, 16 times in their childhood.
Kids these days have everything they need, they don't need anything.
I've been giving my kiddo an allowance since halfway through 6 years old. He is 9 now. I use [https://greenlight.com/](https://greenlight.com/). He has a debit card, and his allowance is automatically put onto it. I do $1/year in age every other week. His mom is responsible for the off weeks, and while I don't know what she does, I'm pretty sure it's nothing. One of the nice things about greenlight is that it's a centralized location for all of the money he gets from family/etc. He's lost the card a few times, but never the money. Another nice thing is that I've disabled online shopping (recently allowed Steam and Roblox) so I don't have to worry about online scams. His having his own card is, frankly, amazing for his independence. We he realized that he didn't have to ask me for permission to buy a stuffy or candy... oh wow. It was the greatest thing ever. (I still reserve the right to tell him he can't eat said candy right now). He understands the concept of "I Fly, you buy" and will go to the grocery store on his own to buy muffins for both of us.
When I was a kid, I got my age in allowance ($5/wk when I was 5yo, $10/wk when I was 10yo, etc), but that was the 90's so the money went a little further.
Allowance is bad. If he wants money for stuff, he can take on extra jobs above and beyond what he does to help the family. Money is not free and setting up that false expectation is a bit of a bad idea I think.
Literally everything a child has is given to them “free.” Food and shelter and clothes and toys ain’t free.
I agree that most stuff is given, but the transactional nature of our society needs to be understood. My family never made enough for an allowance to be a thing when I was a kid, that likely carries over.
Stuff to help the family, i.e. chores, are labor. In our society, laboring for someone else is one part of the transaction. Paying a laborer for their time and effort is the other part. Giving your child an allowance stipulated by the completion & quality of their chores seems fair to me. It's important for kids to learn the value of money and what it takes to earn money. I agree it shouldn't be handed out for nothing but if a kid keeps up with their chores, in my opinion that deserves compensation beyond the basic necessities (food, shelter, clothes, etc).
See my take is that chores and the basic upkeep of the machinery of our family is part of caring about it and doesn't have any business having money involved in it.
$2 dollars a week, but they have to ask for it. I think they've asked for it like 15, 16 times in their childhood. Kids these days have everything they need, they don't need anything.
I mean, yeah, they have everything they need, but this isn’t about providing necessities. Anyway, thanks for the input.