We Don’t “Do” Allowance…Here’s Why

We are not perfect parents. Thankfully, there are no perfect parents, so we’re all in the same boat. God asks each one blessed with children to do what is best for their children, and that to His glory.

Thankfully, He is merciful and gracious, because we, as humans, fail far too often, even in this major role in life.

One decision parents must make is how to teach their children about “interacting” with money. No matter how much (or how little) you have, your children are going to have to learn how to interact with money, and all the other parts of life that intersect with that.

One decision we made some time ago was that we are not going to give our children an allowance. [I know…I’ll wait until you stop screaming at your computer… done yet? Ok.]

Why would we take such awful, abusive measures with children who are so small? It’s because we want them to equate honest work with being paid, and we do not want them getting something for nothing.

That is not to say that we never give them gifts. They get a lot of things “just because,” and are often given little “extras” as rewards, or just as a way to enjoy a moment in life.

But we want them to make a direct correlation between honest work and earning money. We do not do anything harsh. Currently (remember, they are only 5 and 4 years old), they must make up their bed each morning, and clean up their rooms at night. If they do those chores a total of 10 times in a week, they get a small amount of money to divide between “saving,” “spending,” and “giving.”

As they get older, their number of tasks will increase, but so will the amount of money they earn.

The Bible makes it clear that we are to be diligent workers. God is certainly not lazy, and He never expects His people to be lazy, either. While our children are small, we are already seeing something change in them. When they go to spend “their” money, they really think about what they want to buy, because they don’t have enough for big toys, or a bunch of books.

Is this a perfect solution? Probably not, because there is no such thing as a perfect solution, but we feel that by being firm on this, we will instill in our children a work ethic at an early age that will help them throughout life.

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Parents, how do you handle allowance or compensation? What suggestions would you have to make our system better?