Thinking about giving an allowance

Useful tips

Are you thinking about giving your children an allowance? Whether it's compensation for a household chore, task or a reward for a good deed, you should know that there are many points to address before you take action: age, interest, effort, etc.

Children ages 5 to 6 are considered responsible enough to receive an allowance. Although age can be an indicator, your children are ready to manage a small budget as soon they show interest in money.

If your children are interested in your daily purchases, understand the basics of savings and discounts and like to calculate the price of items when you go shopping with them, you know that they're ready to receive an allowance.

As there aren't any rules and it's more of a case by case sort of thing, let your sense of deduction guide you.

To help your children draw up a budget, see Model to Plan Monthly Spending. To help your children understand the value of things, see the activity bearing the same name.

Useful tips

"It's great to give an allowance, but you also have to keep an eye on your children's expenses. Without being overbearing, I make sure my children ages 8 and 9 make purchases that are good for them."

Émilie, mother of Alexis and Raphaëlle

More than a simple question of age, you have to assess your children's level of responsibility. Start by giving them $10 to spend at the grocery store. What did they buy? What did they put aside? What influences their decisions?

Unlike an allowance, giving money to your children upon request doesn't allow them to manage their money on a daily basis, as they get the impression that they can get money whenever they ask for it.

A weekly allowance will teach your children to:

• manage a regular inflow of money
• plan their expenses in advance
• establish short- or long-term goals
• reach the established goals

Useful tips

"My first mistake was not prioritizing. I was giving the same amount of money for every chore. I quickly realized that chores like taking out the garbage and mowing the lawn don't take the same time."

Julien, father of Simon-Charles

"I decided to give an allowance for specific chores rather than a regular allowance every month. Both options seemed good, but the first one appealed to me."

Claudio, father of Charles and Éric

So, how will you choose which chores deserve compensation and which ones don't?

In addition to using the additional material, you can also:

1. Classify chores based on completion time
   Vacuuming takes about an hour? Doing and putting away the dishes, half an hour? Cleaning a room, and not just making the bed, up to 2 hours of work? Every chore is different and takes a varying amount of time to complete. Keeping this in mind will allow you to be fair when giving an allowance.
2. Classify chores based on frequency
   If you're rewarding your children for taking out the garbage every 2 days and for getting good grades every semester, this should affect the total allowance amount.
   A repetitive task will be carried out faster and require less effort than a task that takes 3 months to accomplish. Assess the fair value of the efforts made by your children over a fixed or non-fixed period of time.
3. Classify chores based on their nature
   Chores, grades and good behaviour can be rewarded. You have the last word on chores that deserve compensation.

To help you determine their value, write them down in a table, based on your philosophy and family values. Maybe you think that good grades are worth much more than helping out with household chores.

Useful tips

4 useful tips to determine a fair and equitable allowance amount:

• Tip no. 1: Give your children an opportunity to negotiate
  Really? Of course! Remember that you always have the last word. Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised to see them convince you by negotiating payments for chores.
• Tip no. 2: Determine the allowance amount based on your budget
  Budgeting is discussed here and there in this section, but now is the time to apply it. An allowance calculated based on your own financial means should be the most logical thing to do. Take the time to explain this to your children so they understand your reasoning.
  This real life example will help your children draw up their own budget with their new allowance. They will be able to allocate amounts for savings, expenses and sharing.
• Tip no. 3: Use small denominations
  A proven trick: give allowances in small denominations. Above all, to allow your children to split up the allowance between savings, expenses and sharing, and also to help your children learn about bank notes and coins. A $10 allowance in small denominations will look like a large sum of money, right?
• Tip no. 4: Take your children's age into account
  A 7-year-old child will not have the same financial needs as a 13-year-old teen. The assigned chores will not have the same significance either.