Money Management Is One of the Most Important Things a Child Should Learn

91% of parents are in favor of letting children earn a weekly allowance (Furnham “Economic”). With more and more parents starting to give an allowance, it is becoming more logical for children to receive a weekly or regular form of income. Despite the few rare cons, giving children an allowance is a sometimes latent benefit to a kid’s childhood. Children should earn a weekly allowance in order to help learn money management including how to save, how to spend, and how to give money at a young age.

Money management is one of the most important things a child needs to learn. When giving children an allowance, it is not a bad idea to set a system on how much is able to be spent, how much should be saved, and even how much should be donated. This can also narrow down how many extra things a child will want. If children know that it is not allowed to spend over a certain set amount, they will not. This will make children have to choose between what they want, and what they can pass up (Sagan). It can be argued that giving an extra treat to children can be a fun and nice surprise, but that can still be done while making children pay for their extra things the majority of the time.

Donating money to different causes can also help give a glimpse of the adult world to children. Requiring or suggesting a certain amount of money out of an allowance be given to the less fortunate can prepare children to see what life in later years will look like (“The Pros and Cons of Giving an Allowance”). It is more common that someone will encounter less fortunate people as an adult than as a child. Encouraging that children donate can teach the importance of giving what one may have but not need to someone who needs it. Giving can teach children to have empathy for someone who may not have the best life. Donating can also teach children that everyone is different. This can lead to teaching how to not be materialistic, and to not judge others based on what they have. Having children donate a portion of their allowance comes with the opportunity to teach many life lessons about the importance of giving to others.

Parents often have to pay for children’s extra toys or treats when out shopping. By paying children an allowance, there is no need to buy extra treats for them. In the event that children do not have the money to buy it for themselves at that point in time, they will have to save up to buy it later. This will terminate the need to spend extra money on things that are not a necessity for children. According to Adrian Furnham and Bruce Kirkcaldy, psychologists, many parents are against lending money to their children. “Parents were in favor of their children saving, though strongly against their borrowing and lending money” (Furnham & Kirkcaldy). It may be brought up that lending a child money can teach them how to share. In spite of the fact that it is needed to teach children the importance of sharing and how to share, sharing has the ability to be taught with many different things, while still teaching money management as well as the importance of saving with money.

Making mistakes with money is a fairly easy thing to accomplish. Whether money is spent on something that is not really needed or something that was not budgeted out correctly, it is easy to make mistakes. Giving children money to spend can cause them to make mistakes, and teaching that making mistakes is an okay thing at a young age is beneficial. It is better to make silly mistakes at a young age than to wait until children are older (Snider). Parents may argue that after children make mistakes, it will escalate to them begging for more money (“Kids and Money: Allowance for Kids.”). Although it may be needed to admonish children that begging is not okay, making money mistakes as a child will help later in life.

There are many online parenting sites, meaning parents receive ideas from other parents. With this being said, since a majority of parents give their children an allowance, it might not be a preposterous idea for all parents to give one. Some will argue that it is an erroneous idea to have all parents have the same strategies, and while that makes sense, something with so many benefits, such as giving an allowance, should be common among all parents.

Letting children access a little part of the adult world is important to start at a young age. Giving children an allowance for the purpose of doing chores around the house can teach them what being a diligent worker and earning money is like, as well as how momentous a lucrative job is. The writer of “The Pros and Cons of Giving an allowance states, “Helping your child understand the correlation between work and reward will set them up for their future careers” (“The Pros and Cons of Giving an Allowance”). An important part of being around children is helping them prepare for their future, and teaching them about having a job is a big step in the process of teaching them. Giving children money after completing chores can cause them to expect money after everything that is done, and make them think that it is not fair to only earn money sometimes (“The Pros and Cons of Giving an allowance”). Expecting money after everything can open up even more opportunities to teach. Learning about earning money goes hand-in-hand with learning that not everything in life may seem fair.

A common argument against giving an allowance for completing chores is that children should automatically help out around the house without having to have an incentive of earning money (“The Pros and Cons of Giving an Allowance). Although this may be the case, an “optional chore list” can be put together for a child to earn a little extra money (Cummins Ph.D.). Items on this list can be things that are not normally expected from children, but can still be accomplished with a little extra time. Some examples of these would be emptying all the wastebaskets or trash cans in the house, washing a vehicle, shoveling the driveway or sidewalk, deep cleaning and shampooing carpets, or even organizing and cleaning places such as the pantry or garage (Roberts).

Parents may argue that it is too hard to decide how much to pay their children (“Kids and Money: Allowance for Kids”). Many parents have had the same issue, so it has pretty much become a common idea to give children one dollar a week for every year of the child’s age (Sagan). This lets children earn a repetitive and consistent amount of money every week. Plus if they are allowed to earn any extra money by doing extra chores, then that would be added as an addition to the weekly total, as well. Using this tactic can also bring back up the problem of children earning money for essentially doing nothing. This can be resolved by a child just earning money based on extra chores completed.

Earning a weekly allowance can help a child prepare for the adult world. Teaching children as much about money management as possible is almost a necessity as they grow up. There are many ways to implement an allowance into a child’s life. There are also ways to update an allowance with new ideas or ways to earn money. Although there are a few downsides, an allowance is a key item in regards to growing up. The benefits show that all children should earn an allowance.