Why Should Kids Get Allowances - The Top 7
Reasons
Author: Rachel Incoll

The question of whether allowances are right or wrong, is one
that has been argued for many generations. Now it's your turn,
as a parent, to decide whether or not an allowance is the best
way to educate your child about financial responsibility. There
are many reasons given on why a regular payment of money to a
child should or shouldn't be done – ultimately I believe there
is no right answer, it is up to each individual family to
decide what is the best option for them. Through many years of
working with parents and educators, these are the top seven
reasons I keep hearing on the question of why should kids get
allowances.

1. They learn to be wise with how they spend their money. It
may help to teach them how to prioritise their spending, &
learn from an early age what things are a waste of money.

2. They learn how to save money. Having a regular amount of
money, may make it easier for them to establish good saving
habits, as a certain percentage of the money from each payment
can be placed into a savings account/piggy bank. Without an
allowance, any money they receive, may simply be spent, with
nothing going to savings.

3. They learn how to donate their money. A certain percentage
of their money can also be allocated to donations to the needy,
hopefully encouraging your child to be more thoughtful of
others, & not greedy with their money.

4. They will learn how to budget their money so it lasts
between payments. Eventually, most children will learn to be
careful how they spend what limited money they have, so they
don't run out of money. This will only happen, if the parent
doesn't give in to the initial whining for more money when the
mistake is first made!

5. They can learn to make mistakes with small amounts of money.
Kids will learn how to manage their finances responsibly far
quicker through being allowed to make mistakes themselves (and
suffering the consequences), rather than being told how they
should be managing their money by someone else. Parents need to
be there to guide their children on how they should spend their
money, but not dictate (unless there could be serious
consequences from their mistakes).

6. They may stop nagging you for money. The idea is, if they
are receiving a regular amount of money, and they have a good
understanding of how to budget it then they will never run out
of money, so won't keep pestering you for more. Realistically,
it will probably never put a complete end to the nagging for
money, but it should reduce it.

7. You may end up forking out less money. If you sit down, and
add up how much money you give your child during the week & how
much you spend on items for them (e.g. clothing), it may
actually work out cheaper to give them an allowance, and make
them responsible for a lot of their purchases.

As I mentioned earlier, an allowance isn't necessarily the best
option for every family, but these are some of the reasons why
many parents & educators believe an allowance is the only way
to go. Some families though, may not have enough room in the
family budget to provide their children with a regular payment,
or may simply not believe in it for their own personal reasons.
Either way you choose, I have seen with my own eyes, children
from each side of the fence who have grown up to be exceptional
money managers, and likewise children who seem to have no idea.
Ultimately, it comes down to how much guidance a child receives
from their parents/guardians on money – whether through an
allowance or not.


About The Author: Rachel Incoll is the author of Kids Money
Tips. She has helped show thousands of parents how they can
teach their children everything they need to know about money
in just a few simple steps. Visit her site
http://www.kidsmoneytips.com to find out how your child can
manage their money more effectively with printable money
charts, worksheets & more.