A weekly allowance gives a child a source of income that he or she can learn to make decisions about. There is a heated debate concerning allowance: whether this weekly money should be tied to chores.

Yes. Yes. Yes. If you just give your child an allowance because he is on the Earth, you are supporting the concept of an entitlement program: I'm on the Earth: therefore, I’m entitled to get what I want.

The only way you get money is to earn it, not to whine and nag for it.

Speaking of nagging, someone actually conducted a study to determine the number of times kids say that they have to nag before a parent will give in and buy what they want. If you said nine – you guessed right.

You want to teach your child the natural consequences of money. You get money by earning it. What you want this weekly sum to show your child is the relationship between work (chores) and money (allowance).

How It Works

The work-for-pay allowance system is based on a specified series of chores that are over and above what is expected of your child as a contributing member of your household. Children should not be paid for any act that relates to personal hygiene or the development of personal responsibility.

The “Citizen of the Household” chores will vary from family to family, but generally are chores that everyone is expected to chip in and do.

The Allowance Chart

Chores for allowance are over and above the Citizen of the Household chores. You should assign weekly chores (jobs) for which each child will be responsible. To avoid falling into a sexist trap and assigning garbage duty to the boys and dusting to the girls, rotate the chores each week.

Remember, not only are you empowering your children to earn their own money, they are also learning the life skills that make a household run.

Prepare a monthly chart for each child listing weeks along the top and a list of chores down the left side. The child (employee) checks off the chores as completed each week. The parents (employer) then inspect the job and check it off, if it has been properly completed. Or try the Virtual Allowance program on MinyanLand.com.

Money as a Life Skill

The first things little children learn about money are, a) It can get them things they want, and, b) Their parents always seem to have it. If you're not careful, money can take on a magical quality to them. When my son, Rhett, was three, we went out together one day and he saw a toy he wanted. Naturally, he asked me to buy it for him.

I told him I didn’t have any money with me – which was true. Like any other parent, I’m capable of saying the first thing that comes into my head in certain moments of weakness, but I never lie about money. Too much missionary zeal, I guess.

“Oh, don’t worry Mommy,” he said. “You can just use that magic plastic card you carry in your purse.”

That taught me a few things – not the least of which was the resourcefulness of a child bent on getting what he wants. It also brought home to me the necessity of making sure that even our little ones should begin learning the value of money.

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