Giving kids an allowance
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Hi! I hear a lot about having to teach kids about money nowadays.
I asked around in the friends circle, a lot of them give pocket money for food at school. But I am not sure about just blindly giving the kids money. I feel they should learn how money is earned.
What do you guys think? Do you make your kids earn the lunch money?
Not easy leh nowadays. -
Tryingtobecooldad\" post_id=\"2134927\" time=\"1717946509\" user_id=\"204901:
I'm assuming that you are referring to very young kids, like P1?
Hi! I hear a lot about having to teach kids about money nowadays.
I asked around in the friends circle, a lot of them give pocket money for food at school. But I am not sure about just blindly giving the kids money. I feel they should learn how money is earned.
What do you guys think? Do you make your kids earn the lunch money?
Not easy leh nowadays.
I didn't make my kids earn pocket money with chores etc - I wanted them to learn that helping out at home (tidying, cleaning, washing up etc) is a normal part of family life, and not to expect pay. I didn't want them to demand to be paid whenever I asked them to do something. If there was something special and beyond the normal, I might offer a treat as a reward, but I generally don't like the idea of payment within the family. Once they are old enough, they can get a job outside the home during vacations.
For young kids, tell them about how YOU earn money to feed them! Let them know that money doesn't magically appear (most young kids think that money grows out of plastic cards, mobile phones or from machines!).
The other important thing to explicitly teach kids is how to budget and compare prices. I used to \"think aloud\" when with my kids - comparing prices of food at a hawker centre, or items in a supermarket. We would set ourselves a budget for a family meal, and see how to keep within that. We showed them how buying drinks would add a lot more to the meal cost. This will help them when it comes to choosing and buying food in school canteens. For our kids, we would give them a budget for each day (based on canteen prices) and show them how they could spend it - buy a more expensive item + free water; buy a cheaper item + drink; spend less each day and save up for a ice cream once a week, etc.
I don't know if all schools use digital money (cards, watches) but I think it's a really bad idea for young kids. I think they should use physical cash until they get a sense of budgeting, getting change, saving etc. Role playing at home can help too.
Hope this helps. -
I don’t make my kid earn his allowance either. Rather, i give him a fixed amount each time (daily for primary school, weekly for secondary school) and guide him how to “live within his means” ie think carefully about how much he has, and what he can spend it on. So he became cognizant of prices in the canteen/bookshop and he could still set aside the excess for savings. There is no credit line available haha, although he gets a “bonus payment” during cny.
At secondary school age, we started discussing how money is earned, when exploring future career pathways. Kid himself started noticing those posters advertising hourly rates for part time staff at fast food outlets & chains. He started comparing the rates, started thinking about how long one needed to work (deduct away transport and meals costs) in order to sustain his type of spending. We taught him about household budget as well, how much utilities and rental would cost. He started appreciating what we provide for him at home; he started understanding that without a tertiary education he would be living hand to mouth. He started researching the monthly salary of various professions & understood why certain career tracks are so highly sought after. It is all inter-related and kids don’t fully see the connections till they mature. -
Just to chop in - Do note that for some kids, “living within their means” maybe allocating entire allowance for their favourite potato chips or bottled drinks. I’ve had to handle one young kid every lunch time before our kids’ program & I had to deliberately weaned him off snacks, by delaying his gratification. I had to inform his parents before I embark on that task. Imagine if he had been left to do as he wishes with do much rubbish for ‘nutrition’! So teaching them what to use their avails resources as well as how to use them wisely is just as impt.