Money for nothing? P.E.I. parents divided on kids' allowances

It's a question most parents ask themselves at one point or another — "should we give the kids an allowance?"

Yes, some say, because it helps teach them financial responsibility. Want that new video game? Better save up.

But why, others say, give money to kids for chores that are expected of them? Now make your bed and put the dishes away.

Every family dynamic is different, with different levels of income and different expectations, but most parents who spoke to CBC P.E.I. generally supported some form of allowance.

"I don't believe in giving allowance just to say, 'Hey every week or every month you're going to get this much money regardless of what you do or don't do,'" said Mike Pickles, who spends summers with his family in Darnley.

"So I believe in linking it to chores you know because that's the real world."

When to start an allowance, and how much to give, is also subjective. But a rule of thumb, according to the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, is $10 a week if your child is 10, $11 a week for 11-year-olds and so on.

In its 2019 Allowance Report, parenting resource RoosterMoney said 71 per cent of the parents it surveyed gave their kids some kind of allowance — and the average allowance for kids between four and 14 was $8.44 a week. 

Pickles said he never received an allowance as a kid because his parents had seven kids and they couldn't afford it. But he gave his 14-year-old son an allowance of about $20 a month until he was able to get his own job, and plans to do the same with his five-year-old son.

It teaches them financial literacy, gives him some sort of empowerment.— Mike Pickles

"When they're younger and they can't work then I believe in giving them allowance because it teaches them financial literacy, gives him some sort of empowerment," he said.

"I think if we openly talk about money and finances and savings and, you know, things like interest rates, credit cards, all that stuff it only helps them down the road so they don't get stuck making these silly decisions because they didn't know, they didn't talk about it."

Charlene Wight's daughters are 10 and eight, and she plans to start giving them an allowance when they turn 12.

"At 12 they'll be in junior high school, they'll have access to a cafeteria, they'll just want some pocket money, some spending money."

The Charlottetown mother said she hopes it will give them a good idea of what it takes to save money.

Never had an allowance

Growing up as one of five kids raised by a single mother, Wight said she never had an allowance. She started working when she was 13 so she always had some of her own money. But she's hoping to give her kids about $15 a week.

"If you have the means to give an allowance, why not?"

Currently, Wight gives her kids money for one-offs above and beyond their daily chores of tidying their rooms, putting their clean clothes away and clearing the table

And sometimes she'll bribe them to do "the not-so-nice chores.

"Like if they want to take the Swiffer WetJet to the kitchen or any of the floors in the house I'll say, 'Hey do you want four dollars and do the kitchen floor for me?' They're very money motivated."

Some parents use a "marble system" or other form of currency as motivation. For example, kids would earn a small marble, worth 25 cents, for small chores; a medium marble, worth 50 cents, for a medium chore; and a large marble, worth $1, for a large chore.

They would put them all in a jar and cash them in at the end of each month.

Some parents, however, said they are not sold on allowances, and prefer to give their kids money on a case-by-case basis. Others said it can be tricky to manage.

Do you withhold the allowance if your child forgets to take the garbage out?

Some, like Anna-Marie Arsenault, simply don't think allowances are necessary.

"I mean, I would never shame a parent for giving their child an allowance," she said. "I think it depends on your family dynamic." 

Arsenault has a seven-year-old daughter, a two-year-old daughter and a six-week-old son. She said everyday chores will be expected of them without promise of an allowance. 

"I would never reward them for doing something as, you know, being part of the family and looking after their home," she said.

I would never reward them for doing something as, you know, being part of the family and looking after their home.— Anna-Marie Arsenault

Arsenault said she didn't have an allowance growing up "regardless of my age or my behaviour.

"We always had what we needed. We went to birthday parties, we went on field trips, we went to the school play and all the things but we were never given any extra money for us to go waste or spend. We got to keep our birthday money but that was about it."

She said her kids can spend their birthday money and can earn extra by babysitting, having a paper route or doing other jobs when they are old enough. Their Christmas money is put into an account they can access when they are 18. 

She said she wouldn't rule out the possibility of an allowance in the future, or paying her kids for chores beyond what is expected, but she doesn't think allowances are necessary to teach kids to be smart with money.

"I never got an allowance and I'm self-sufficient. It's not valid that because you get the allowance you will be more self-sufficient. I don't think it hurts the kids or it makes the kids better. I think it just depends on the kid. It depends on the home. I don't think there's a right or wrong."

More P.E.I, news