it’s summer and some school aged kids are home. I’ve seen some great posts and articles on making sure kids do certain things before they are able to be free to enjoy a lazy, carefree, summer day — things like daily chores.

There are two sides to this argument. I think that each family can definitely make their own decision based on what fits their goals and needs.

Should we give our kids an allowance?

Pros

1. Paying children for chores around the house teaches them that a good work ethic will be rewarded and that if they don’t do their jobs they will not get their money. If this is your strategy, don’t forget to follow through on not paying them if they skip out on their chores.

2. Working for an allowance provides parents with a head start on teaching children the value of money and of saving their money. I’ve heard a few great methods of teaching your child to save their money, most with different jars. Some parents give their children an amount per week, lets say $2. The child then has two or three containers or banks to put their money in.

They have the “save bank,” the “need bank” and the “spend bank.” Their money gets divided into three containers with parents deciding how much should go in each container weekly. What I’ve read is that half goes into savings and then a quarter into each need and want categories. This is a great way for children to understand that they do, in fact, have to work for their money and that it can take a long time to have the amount of money needed to buy what they want.

As kids get older they’ll also learn that saving more money will allow them to buy better toys while when they’re young they may choose cheaper toys that may break more easily.

3. Giving an allowance gives you the opportunity to discuss the value of money more frequently. The conversations are endless. Think of the things we spend money on weekly for our children that they possibly don’t appreciate or even notice?

Cons

1. Having to come up with money to pay children weekly.

2. Family life and chores are a family duty. The whole family lives together in a home and working together is how they make things work. Paying children to do their part may make them feel like they can get off the hook by simply not being paid for their chore. That chore still needs to be done though so who’s going to do it?

Hearing “how much will I get for doing that?” Paying children for chores may give them the impression that work is not worth doing unless it’s paid for.

3. Paying children for help around the house may make them less likely to do something just to help out unless they’re getting something out of it.

There is so much debate on this topic out there. I don’t feel I have even scratched the surface. Personally we don’t do allowances anymore. We tried it and sort of fell off track forgetting to make them do the chores and paying them. We mostly ask them to do daily chores and when we need help with something we ask for their help. An allowance and pre decided chores may be a great idea for the summer though, so I’m rethinking our strategy.

I have decided to introduce them to the different jars of saving. What a great way to teach them the value of saving their money. I was never good at saving and hope that I can teach my children to be better at it than me.

Whatever you decide I’m sure it’ll work well with your family and your goals. Here’s to getting some help around the house, one way or another.

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