Children start earning money from an allowance at home before they ever get a job. Not all parents, however, agree that giving children a regular allowance is a good idea. Consider some ways to decide whether or not to give an allowance to your children.

An allowance used to be fifty cents a week. That was a long time ago. Now, an allowance can be as much as five or ten dollars a week. It seems like a small amount, but if you have more than one or two kids, it can add up rather quickly.

An allowance is not the same as money earned for chores performed. An allowance represents a way to teach kids about handling money. In my family, we used to get three dollars each week for allowance. On the weekends, we would ride our bikes to the store and stock up on goodies before heading to a nearby park. We learned early on that if we put our money together, we could buy more snacks than we could separately.

A child’s age and the income of the parents are the most important determining factors when it comes to the amount the child will receive as an allowance. Parents who are experiencing financial difficulties may need to keep their child’s allowance low at first or just wait until their situation stabilizes and they are able to give their children more each week. You can explain to the children that they are being given an allowance because it is an honor for you to be their parent.

Wait to give an allowance to children until they are able to comprehend the concept of money and how it is to be used. You might choose to wait until their school discusses money and then use an allowance in conjunction with what they have been learning in their class.

Giving an allowance is an ease into the idea of money and its uses. The child may not want to buy anything at that point, but you can explain the importance of saving a portion of the allowance and keeping the rest available for their needs. If you just bought Jane a new doll and she wants another one, discuss the price and how much money she will need to save to buy her own.

If children decide they want to save their money in order to buy something, they will be excited to get their allowance and add to their savings until they have enough. They may even decide to just continue saving instead of purchasing the item. Either way, they will have learned a very important life lesson about delayed gratification and its benefits.

An allowance is helpful for kids to develop a healthy attitude about money. They didn’t earn the money, but that doesn’t mean that they should squander it either. When they start doing odd jobs around the house for more money, they will already know how to save what they earn.

There is nothing wrong with giving a child an allowance each week or each month. The money is theirs, but it is the parents’ job to help them handle it with care. They will make mistakes, but there is time to correct these before they become responsible for themselves.