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Allowances:

One of the many much-debated topics when it comes to how parents raise their children is allowance. Some parents feel that children shouldn't have to do chores, but that they should receive an allowance every week anyway. Some parents feel that children should do chores every week, and that it should just be part of their duties, and they should not receive an allowance for these. And then there are those parents in the middle, the ones that believe that children should do assigned chores on a regular basis, and they should get an allowance only if those chores are done.

I can't tell you what the best or worst method is, but I can give you a list of the pros and cons of giving children an allowance for chores. From this list, you should be able to determine what is most important to you about the values your child learns about general responsibility and money, and make a decision based on this information. The list below details only the pros and cons of paying your child an allowance with the requirement of completing chores:

Pros—
• Your child will learn the pride that comes with earning their money. To a child, having money handed to you for no reason is a great thing, but doing work and doing it well enough to get paid for it brings with a sense of pride that children often appreciate even more than just receiving money for nothing.
• Your child will likely be more responsible with their money. Instead of just getting an allowance and buying the first thing that they see, they will think a little more about whether that particular toy is worth all that hard work.
• It is often easier to get your child to do their chores than it would be if there was no reward for doing it.
• Your child will learn many lessons from doing it this way: nothing in life is free, the harder you work, the more money you will earn, there are rewards for doing good, and more.
• You won't have to listen to your child beg for a more expensive toy when you go to the store. It is their money, and it is their option to save it or spend it, which means that they will only look at the toys that cost less or as much as they have, which will likely prevent them from begging you for toys that cost a small fortune.

Cons—
• By doing this, it becomes very difficult for you to teach your child about responsibility without getting something in return. Some parents feel it's more important to teach their child about how everyone has daily responsibilities within the family and that this has nothing to do with money than it is to teach them about rewards for work.
• Your child may choose to simply not do the chores and not make the money. This is always a bad thing, when your child decides that they are willing to give up their allowance in order to not have to work. If the only rule is that they get their allowance for work, how can you argue if they choose to not do the work and not get the money?

However you choose to do an allowance, whatever requirements you set, or whatever amount you give your child, is completely up to the parent. And, since every child is different, the pros and cons may differ for each child. It is best to do what works for both the parent and the child, and if things aren't working the way they are, you can always change the rules.

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