Pocket Money for 7 Year Olds - How much and what do they do to earn it?

[emlu67]

DD has started asking for pocket money and I promised her we would discuss how much and how to earn it but really don't have a clue what the going rate is. At the moment she does the following anyway without being asked:-

Tidies bed every morning
Keeps room tidy
Puts clothes away
Sets table for dinner and sometimes breakfast

Would love to know what similar age DCs get and how they earn it, thanks!

[dearheart]

I'm really impressed with what you get your dd to do - my dd occasionally sets the table for breakfast and that is about it.

I gave her pocket money because she asked me (£1 a week) and it felt right. I have told her it is a privilege - her behaviour hasn't been great these past weeks so I have now linked it to doing as she is asked. She lost 10p yesterday and earned it back by not moaning or back-chatting for the rest of the day.

[mumatron]

I've been told it's quite extravagant but my dd (7) gets £5 a week.

She usually spends £2-£3 on a magazine and sweets or small toy and saves the rest. Sometimes she saves more, sometimes less.

To earn it, she must look after her room, set/clear up the dinner table and help out with dishes.

She also takes responsibility for letting the dog out to the garden and helps with entertaining dd2.

She is also expected to put real effort into her school work (doesn't come natural to her) especially reading.

If her behaviour isn't up to scratch she doesn't get the money. 1 warning and that's it.

[lljkk]

DS gets 7 quid/month. He doesn't have to earn that, but he can lose some with bad behaviour (burping, teasing, fighting, name-calling).

He can earn extra by doing jobs, like hanging out laundry, emptying dishwasher, scrubbing toilets (in a basic way!), sweeping floor, bit of vacuuming. picking dandelions, watering house plants. I pay about 40p/10 minute job.

[feetheart]

DD (8) gets £1.60, DS (5) gets £1 - it goes up 20p a year on your birthday.

Not linked to jobs or behaviour (yet!) but the potential is there.
Seems about right for us at the moment but not showing DD this thread as we are obviously MEAN :)

[lovingthecoast]

Hi, DS1 is almost 8yrs and your list on the OP is all he's asked to do. On top of that, good manners are expected. He gets £2pw. He sometimes gets a 'bonus' if he's done something extra without being asked or been especially nice to his sisters.

DD1 is 6yrs and gets 20p per day as she needs the small bursts to keep her going. Her list is pretty much the same although she's not expected to put her clothes away without a little help and she's always last down to breakfast and cannot be trusted not to drop everything.

DD2 is 4 and also gets 20p a day. She's expecetd to make her bed as best she can and tidy her toys away.

All three of them are also expected to keep the playroom accessible to humans.

[marge2]

We looked into this recently as our DS1 was telling us AAAALLL about his friend at school who gets £20 per month. DH found something on the internet that suggested average pocket money for an 8yr old IS £20 per month. I was

[housemum]

DD is 8 and gets £3 per week. Previous to that, she just had a pound but we would still buy her little things - now we have increased it, she has to buy her own magazines/sweets/pretty-but-unnecessary-stationery etc. It means that she can no longer nag and ask for stuff when we go to the shops - she always has the chance to bring her own purse. I'm hoping it will teach her the value of money - only been doing it a few months, she has pretty much spent what she has received, but has realised that she wants to buy more Moshi figures and will have to save up.

[emlu67]

Thanks for all your postings. I think we will start at £2 or £3 a week. She currently only has one magazine a month and we rarely buy her sweets as she seems to get so much given to her from other childrens birthdays!

Housemum that is a great idea for asking your DD to bring her own purse when you shop as she will start to realise what she can and can't buy and understand that more expensive things need to be saved up for so I think I will do the same. DD is at the asking for pretty but unnecessary stationery etc stage too and it will save the nagging!

Oh and she will lose some or all of it if there is any misbehaviour!

[sunnydelight]

8yo DD gets $10 a month (about 7 pounds) and it burns a hole in her pocket! Unlike her 12yo brother who saves for things she is facinated by her spending power (which isn't much around here unfortunately!).

She makes her bed, keeps her room tidy (has to tidy it properly at the weekend if it's got messy), and she and her brother have to do the following: load and unload the dishwasher every day, set and clear the table for meals, bring the clean clothes up from the laundry once a week and sort into piles to distribute to owner. Oh, and make sure the dog always has clean water (the 12yo's greater amount of pocket money is mainly based on the fact that he walks and feeds the dog every day).

[bigTillyMint]

Mine didn't get any at that age, but could (and still can!) earn £1 for tidying, hoovering and dusting their own bedroom.

DD started getting proper pocket money when she started at secondary school., but doesn't have to "earn" it.

[Dialsmavis]

DS gets 10p per year of his life per week (he is 8 and gets 80p). He has similar chores to your DD but they are not related to the pocket money they are just his part of being in the family. I would take it away if he did something really bad. I double it if he saves £5. He also gets £1 per lost tooth and a Granny will usually bung him a £1 or something when one visits.

[Passthecake30]

Mine are 4.5 and 6 and get £1 a week if they tidy up when they are asked without too much complaining. Ds (6) is very keen and lovesy money and saving it up. Dd is easy come easy go...but is spured on by the fact that her bruv can't get something she's not!

[WeAreEternal]

DS is 8 and for the last couple of years he has been getting the same amount, we have a little system where he can earn more by doing extra jobs, it really works for him.

He gets £5 per week. For that he is expected to,
make his bed every morning,
Keep his bedroom reasonably tidy,
Put dishes into the dishwasher after meals,
Always behave and do well at school.

He can earn an additional £1 per day (we only count mon-fri) by doing an extra job, he often does this and ends up with £10 on a Saturday.
The jobs are,
Tidy his bathroom, which is usually just putting away the toys he has played with in the bath.
Hoovering a room or two.
Unload the dish washer.
Bring down his laundry hamper and put the clothes in the washer.
Put away the various toys that have accumulated in the living room, family room and conservatory (no toys are supposed to 'live' in these rooms)

He also receives deductions if he fails to do the expected tasks, we usually ignore one or two but if he skips a few, or misbehaves he will lose 50p - £1.

We have a little pocket money chart on the fridge which lists the tasks and extra jobs and he can cross them off when he is done. Then on a Saturday he swaps the completed chart for money.

He usually saves half and spends half on a magazine and a pack of moshi monsters or trash packs.

He is very good at saving, at the moment he is saving up for a lego set that he wants.