Why should children not receive an allowance?

Question

ssame question as last time. but reverse. PLEASE HELP ME!

Answer 1

This is because young children are not fiscally responsible. They might go and spend money on something that they do not need or you don't want them to have. However, when you determine a child or teenager is responsible enough to handle money and, if you have the means to provide it, there is no reason to keep them from having an allowance.

Answer 2

Small children should not get an allowance because they don't understand money yet, and really, what are they going to buy?

10-13 year old children should not get an allowance *if their parents already buy them what they ask for.*

14 and up, though, I think that the parents should scale back what they buy their kids and give the kids allowance so they understand the value of money.

I'm 15 and get $40 a week, but out of that I pay for clothes, transportation -$4 for a round trip, ouch-, music, video games, a good chunk of my books, movie tickets -$12 here-, Halloween costume, food when I had the opportunity to pack -and often when I didn't...my parents don't like negotiating- and everything else that isn't a basic cost of living.

My chores -which are unrelated to the allowance- are keeping the kitchen clean, doing the dishes every night -and we eat late...- scrubbing down the kitchen once a week, making dinner when asked -and I still do the dishes after that- keeping the bathroom clean and scrubbing it down, keeping the dining room clean -tougher than it sounds- and any jobs that my parents want done.

If I don't get my jobs done I get $5 or $10 docked from my allowance -depending on what I didn't do- and I have to pay some allowance back. The idea is that if I don't help out, I don't get the benefits. Sometimes it's unfair -i.e I didn't get the dishes that night because I fell asleep- but I guess it's for the best.

Sometimes I get pissed at my parents for being cheap, but it's better than being 20 and having $50k in credit card debt.

Answer 3

i dont know this is homeschooling

Answer 4

Because not all kids deserve it, some kids don't listen to their parents and don't handle their money well.  These kids should not continue to receive an allowance until they are mature enough to take direction, help around the house, and spend their money carefully.

Also, if a family can not afford it, then the kid just has to learn to sacrifice like everyone else.

Answer 5

because they arent too good at handeling money

Answer 6

they should get money. well just saying if there 7 they migh want to buy legos or toys.

Answer 7

Funny, there is a flip side to the first question. LOL. OK, I am game. This time I will leave the 'should' alone. A blanket statement is a hard thing to defend because there is an implication that it is all or nothing. However, my guess is you have been assigned this topic and you have to make the best of it. I would lean more to a blanket statement of no allowance than a blanket statement of a required allowance. So I will run with this one.

Evidence can come in the form of common sense, logic, statistics, personal experience, even cultural norms. I will lend some personal experience.

In the last 15 years we have lived in poor rural areas/country small towns, suburbs and worked with the upper class. That means we have seen three strata of family wealth. Each strata's children had different levels of allowance. The wealthy had a very comfortable allowance and they spent most of their money on peer-based items (designer jeans, $100 plus tennis shoes, etc.). The suburb families had less to give their children for allowance, but it was the norm. The children seemed less focused on the designer end of spending and seemed more aware of shopping for value. What I have found most interesting though has been the children of the rural and small town folk. The family budgets out here meet needs, but luxuries are much more rare. It is the norm out here to not give the children allowances because the funds are not as predictable. Not once in our years in the suburbs did we see a lemonade stand nor get asked if we wanted our yard mowed. Sure, we got the inevitable "Want to buy some cookies?" for school and church fundraisers, but nothing that came from the initiative of the kids themselves. Not so out here. The kids are quite ready to put their spare time to work for earnings. Here are some actual examples of what we have seen since moving here:

Just two days ago the neighbor boys (about 11 and 12 years of age) came to our door to buy a gallon of gas form our gas can we keep for the mowers (the gas station was too far  to walk). They paid us for the gas with their own quarters. With that gas they mowed neighborhood lawns for $15 each using their family's lawn mower.

The first winter we were here, some of the boys from the neighborhood aked if they could collect mistletoe from our Osage Orange tree. They used their BB guns to shoot the plants out of the tree. It helped us get a parasitic plant out of the tree and it gave them a product to sell for the Christmas holidays. They gave us first pick (free) of the mistletoe they gathered.

I know that several of the farm kids have set up corn mazes (creating mazes from the stalks that remained after harvesting) and charged admission. These are actually very popular locally and there is often a good turnout.

Some of the kids raise and sell their own food animals. For $50 you can buy a calf from a dairy. These are so young the need to be bottle-fed so the kids have to feed it a bottle night and day every four hours. Soon they move to eating grass and the kids can take it easy while the calf grows to an adult size (one to two seasons). The animal can be sold for $500 to $600. They turn $50 back to their next calf and continue.

Considering how commonly we have found initiative in the kids here, I think that the general lack of allowances have something to do with it. Do these kids miss out on learning to save or make good spending decisions? Nope. They are likely to actually spend with more consideration because it was their sweat that earned it and it would take more sweat to replace it. They are less prone to spend it on designer clothes simply because too few actually hhave such things to make the kids feel they have to have it to fit in.  Do they gain in learning to see opportunity and build a work ethic that the kids that were handed their allowance didn't get? Yep.

So, if I could only chose an either/or position between should have an allowance and shouldn't have one, I am closer to the shouldn't. I think it builds initiative, creativity, work ethic, and an early understanding of the basic attitudes of business owners.

Answer 8

If this is just for argument's sake (I actually think they should get allowances):

Children should be encouraged to develop ways to earn money themselves rather than expecting a handout.  The younger they learn the workings of the real world, the better.

If children earn their own money rather than having it handed to them, they will be much more careful about how that money is spent.  They will begin to develop habits that will help them throughout their lifetime.  "Easy come, easy go" is a truism that is proven daily by the child who has money handed to him without responsibility.

Answer 9

There are no "one answer fits all" in this question.

Each parents has to find what works and what not works for their children.

Sample 1: Children under 5 may not need allowance because everything is paid by parents.

Sample 2: After children go to primary school parents may want to give once a week or monthly allowance after they sit down together w/ the kids and figure out what amount they should give.

Things that needed to be considered: do you want to include snack money only or transportation money also -if the kids taking public transportation.

or

If your children is older you may want to give more autonomy

e.g : money for clothes and shoes.

Sample 3 : Some parents feel that children should "earn" their allowance money by doing chores or perform certain scores on their report cards, etc.

Hope this helps

Answer 10

don't worry try to make your own money.but when i was in school i was given 5000$ and now i am in university i am given 15000$

Answer 11

The only time they should not, is if they get it handed to them without having to work for it.

Answer 12

I am not an advocate either way. But I do believe that money should be used to train children to save and plan for their future. However, i don't believe that any form of financial discipline should be forced. I think that children should be given jobs at home where they can be paid for their work such as mowing the lawn, shoveling snow or cleaning the cat box. Allow them to have the choice of saving their hard earned bucks or just throwing it all away on a game boy. This will teach them to either save or suffer the consequences. Now household jobs and houeshold chores are 2 different things. They should not be paid for chores such as doing the dishes or cleaning their room.They should understand that there is a difference. Either way, you should not just hand money to children. You worked hard for it and they should learn to appreciate that by working hard for it in turn.

Answer 13

An allowance implies that they did not work for it, put a child on commision instead. Give thema list of paying jobs around the house they do it they get paid they don't do it they don't get paid. Then have thing they do just because they are part of the household.

Answer 14

Well, I'm assuming that the allowance is tied to actions? Be good and get money, do good things and get money? the basic argument against that is that children are punished by rewards (read Alphie Kohn's book by the same name) By providing a tangible reward for working, you are telling them that work is not worth it unless you receive money in return (or ice cream or TV time or whatever you want) This in return creates a child who will say that they are willing to give up the money in turn for not doing the chores.

If you mean money that is not tied into chores, the reasons I see is perhaps not having money. Some parents would feel that children learn better lessons by having to work for money.

Answer 15

I think it's a good idea for children to have some money of their own so that they can learn how to manage it (a skill so many adults are lacking).  

What I think is a terrible idea is tying the allowance to chores or behavior.  If you pay for chores, that is like a job.  Everyone in a family should contribute to running the household... but that is up to the individuals as to what they do.  It strikes me as odd when people are shocked to see my children do household chores without being asked.  It's just natural to want to help out unless you run a household that discourages it.  And an allowance as payment for chores, isn't good for family harmony.

Answer 16

Well, it depends.

There is a religious aspect.  Jesus said do twice the work for no compensation, just for doing it.

There is a finacial aspect, you may not be able to afford it

There is the indulence aspect.  You buy a Playstation 3 for your kid just because, not for a birthday or Christmas, then you are induling them and to the tune of $600

There is the giving aspect.  It is better to give than receive.  It is better to give your family DISH SERVICE or TRASH SERVICE

The child, just like anyone, has to feel appreciated.  So you have to do some of these things in lieu of allowance.

In very poor families kids deliver newspapers and put ALL their earnings into the cookie jar for the whole family.  They contribute their share.

When the child eats dinner and it's a good dinner they know their work deliver papers helped make it good.

Without their paper route it would be beans and tortillas instead of beans, meat and tortillas.

Their $25 this week made the burger possible.

But there has to be fairness and appreciation.  The kid who gives up his paper route money should not have to take out the trash when the 12 year old gets to lie on the rug and watch TV.

The 12 year old should do some of the house work and the kid who gives up their route money should get to take it easy as they work and go to school.

And you have to make that clear to everyone.

John works two hours each morning on his bike, you work now.

John paid for the burger, you do your share with the dishes.