Should You Give Your Children an Allowance?

The topic of whether or not you should give your children an allowance can be somewhat of a hot button issue, with parents standing firmly on both sides of the issue. Money is always a heated topic, and that tension only seems to ramp up when you are talking about whether or not you should give money to your children.

Whether or not you will give your children an allowance is a decision that every parent has to make once their children reach a certain age, usually around the time that their children start school. Should you give your children an allowance? Consider both sides of the argument before making a decision about what is best for your family.

Reasons Your Children Should Have an Allowance

• It allows them to learn how to use money wisely, with little risk.
• It teaches them that money is finite–it doesn’t grow on trees.
• It helps them learn patience and delayed gratification as they save up for things they want.
• It teaches them the value of hard work.
• It discourages entitlement, since you don’t need to buy them everything they want.
• It gives them a sense of control, self-confidence and self-assurance as they learn to manage their money themselves.
• It opens a line of communication about money.
• It sets them up for good habits in the future.

Reasons Your Children Should Not Have an Allowance

• Children shouldn’t have to worry about money.
• They might misplace or lose it.
• It encourages them to spend frivolously.
• Once they buy all sorts of “stuff,” you have to find a place for it in your house.
• It can encourage entitlement if you give it with no strings attached.
• It can encourage greed.
• The money could go into a savings account instead, where it could earn interest.
• The parents may not have much extra to spare.

The question of whether of not you should give your children an allowance is one that only you and your husband can decide. Plus, once you determine whether or not allowances are right for your family, you still have other important questions to answer, including the amount, the frequency and whether or not the allowance will be tied to chores or freely given. Still, once you make the decision that is right for your family, you can rest easy knowing that you are on the path to setting your children up for a lifetime of financial success.

Do you give your children an allowance? Why or why not? If you do, at what age do you start?