How much allowance to give, and whether to tie it to chores

An allowance is a budget, and a budget only teaches anything if it has a job. Before you choose a number, list what the child will now pay for out of their own money that you used to pay for. For a six-year-old that might be the occasional toy or a treat at the shop. For a twelve-year-old, snacks with friends, app purchases and birthday presents for friends. For a fifteen-year-old, possibly clothes beyond the basics, a phone top-up, or their own outings.

An allowance with nothing assigned to it is pocket money. That is fine, but it teaches saving rather than budgeting. The more you hand over, the larger the amount has to be, and the more it teaches. Hand over one category at a time, and tell the child exactly which one.

The most common rule of thumb in the United States is a dollar a week for each year of age: five dollars at five, ten at ten. Some families use half that, and some start there and adjust once they have listed what the money covers. It is a starting point, not a standard, and it says nothing about where you live or what the money has to buy.

A better test is arithmetic. Add up roughly what the things on your list cost in a month, divide by four, and add a little so that saving is possible. If the result is far from the rule of thumb, trust the arithmetic. If a child cannot save anything after paying for what you handed over, the amount is too low, or the list is too long.

Ask other parents what they pay, if you like, but expect a wide range. What matters to your child is that the amount is predictable and that it arrives when you said it would.

The third model is a common compromise. It keeps a floor of money for budgeting practice, keeps everyday jobs out of the pay packet, and still gives a child who wants more a way to earn it. Whichever you choose, write down which jobs are unpaid and which are paid, so nobody has to guess.

1. **Unconditional allowance.** The money arrives every week, whatever happens. Chores are expected because the child lives in the house. This keeps money lessons and chore arguments separate, and it means the allowance cannot become a lever. Its weakness is that a child who has decided they do not need money this week has no particular reason to empty the dishwasher.
2. **Paid chores.** Nothing is free: each job has a price, and the week's pay is the sum of the jobs done. This teaches the link between work and money directly. Its weakness is that it puts a price on everything, including the things a family member should do anyway, and a child who does not want money can opt out of helping.
3. **A base plus paid extras.** A fixed base amount arrives every week. Everyday contributions, such as clearing your own plate, tidying your own room and feeding the pet, are unpaid and expected. Bigger or optional jobs, such as washing the car, raking leaves or helping with a garage clear-out, are paid on top.

A split gives the allowance some structure without a lecture. One familiar version is three jars: one to spend freely, one to save toward something specific, and one to give away. The proportions are yours to choose. Some families split evenly into thirds. Others put most of it in spend and a small fixed share in give.

The save jar works best with a named goal and a price, such as a bike or a game, rather than saving in general. Young children cannot see the point of money they will never use. A goal they picked, with a visible gap between what they have and what it costs, is the whole lesson.

For a young child, three actual jars on the counter are better than anything on a screen. The coins are visible, the jars fill up, and the give jar empties into something real. Move to a tracked balance when the coins get unwieldy, or when the money mostly arrives by transfer anyway.

Matching is a simple savings incentive. For every dollar the child leaves in savings for a month, you add some amount: ten cents, twenty-five, or a full dollar for a younger child who needs the effect to be obvious. Pay it on a fixed day, so the child can see when it arrives.

Interest works the same way and teaches compounding, but only if the rate is far above anything a bank pays, otherwise the numbers are too small to notice. Some families pay a few percent a month for exactly that reason. Say out loud that it is a family rate, not what a real account pays, or the lesson backfires the day they open one.

Pick one, keep the rate fixed for a year, and put it in writing next to the allowance amount.

Tie raises to birthdays, and say so in advance. A predictable raise ends the mid-year lobbying, and a birthday is a natural moment to hand over the next category of spending along with the extra money. If you use the dollar-per-year rule, the raise takes care of itself.

Outside birthdays, change the amount only when you change what it covers. A raise without new responsibility is a gift. A raise with a new category, such as "you now buy your own school lunches on Fridays", is a promotion.

Decide this before it happens, because deciding it in the moment is how the allowance becomes a punishment tool.

Under an unconditional allowance, the money still arrives, and the skipped chore is dealt with the way any other unmet expectation is, separately from money. Under paid chores, a chore not done is simply a chore not paid. There is nothing to deduct, because nothing was earned. Under the hybrid, the base arrives as usual, the paid extras that were not done are not paid, and the unpaid family jobs are handled like any other house rule.

Avoid fines. Deducting from money already earned turns the allowance into a debt the child can fall behind on, and a child in debt stops caring about the balance. Avoid paying for promises, too: a job is paid when it is done, not when it is agreed to.

If one child keeps falling short, the list is usually the problem, not the child. Shorten it, or check that the money buys something they actually want.

Chores gives each child a list for the week, and they tap a chore when it is done. Every chore carries points, at least one, and an adult sets what a point is worth in money. A weekly chore earns its points once a week. A daily chore earns them each day it is done. A household can pay in money, in screen time, or in both, with minutes per point set the same way. A chore that is not done earns nothing, and Chores never deducts.

Once a week is over, the next time an adult opens Chores it totals each child's week and posts a recap. With Piggy Bank installed, that week's earnings are deposited into each child's bank automatically. An admin can turn that deposit off in Settings, under Automations.

Piggy Bank holds one money balance and one screen-time balance per child. Adults add or subtract with a note, and children see their own balance and its history. A child can have savings goals on a bank, each shown as a progress bar against the balance.

Here is what it does not do. There is no interest, no matching and no separate spend, save and give jars, and no money moves anywhere. It is a ledger. You hand over the cash or make the transfer yourself.

Here is how each model fits:

Matching and interest are also done by hand, as a deposit with a note on the day you pay them. For a three-jar split, either keep the jars physical and use Piggy Bank as the running total, or decide the split when the cash comes out. For some families the money is the wrong motivator altogether. Rewards collects the same chore points into a separate balance a child spends on privileges you define, and an adult approves each request.

1. **Unconditional allowance:** skip Chores for the money. Each week, add the base amount to the child's Piggy Bank by hand, with a note.
2. **Paid chores:** put every paid job in Chores with points that add up to a sensible week, and let the deposit happen on its own.
3. **Base plus paid extras:** put only the paid extras in Chores, and add the base by hand each week. Because every chore in Chores is paid, keep the unpaid family jobs out of it. Routines holds them as a plain checklist instead, such as the Weekly Reset starter, with steps you can assign to a particular child, and no money attached.

One sentence each: the amount, what it covers, which jobs are unpaid and which are paid, the split, the savings match or rate, when it goes up, and what happens when a job is skipped. That is the whole policy. Read it out once, put it somewhere the child can see it, and change it on a birthday, not in the middle of an argument.

• Chores & Allowance
• Piggy Bank
• Rewards
• Routines

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