Should kids get paid to do chores?

Trade said:
Why not? I got money for nothing and I turned out OK. :)
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Dave Ramsey said he asked his dad for an icecream and he said: No. Go mow lawns. I felt so sorry for him. My kids got everything. Still if I have enough. They never whine about money or stuff. One needed something and had nothing left cause he had to pay half of the laptop he needed. Then his little brother gave him money from his 50 euro he got from his dad.

When they were small I had very little. I just didnt eat. Thin as a needle. Bread with cheese, no warm food, so we could go to the fair or buy em these balloons for 10 euro each. I gave em everything. It was cheap stuff. Stuffed animal whatever they wanted.

I have the idea that sometimes, not always, if people get nothing or little as a kid they want to have it later. My sister asked if they wanted something for Christmas. They say: Hm don't know. Neh I don't care about presents. My uncle went through WWII. He ate onions for dinner, walked around in crazy cheap clothes and gave everything to some good cause. In return his son is now a millionair who has cattle for fun, a gigantic house, car, stuff. I think it's because his dad was too extreme.
 

I believe that not having to do chores for money when I was a kid taught me some valuable life lessons that served me well later in life.

For example I worked 31 years in a governemt job, wait, let me rephrase that. I put in 31 years in government job. That's pretty close to getting money for nothing. And now that I am retired from that governemt job I am getting a defined benefit pension and social security. More money for nothing. So you see, I learned the value of getting money for nothing. :)


 
Not all kids need the same incentives to learn hard work, and not all kids are motivated by money, but I would guess the safest way to raise a kid would be pay for chores and work. We did not do that however and we have a really hard working, thrifty kid. Now at 27 she keeps a clean, beautiful house and does all the things that would have typically been chores as a pre-teen and teenager. It's a miracle I tell ya.
 

I was never paid for chores done around the house, although admittedly my mother was a perfectionist so she made sure everything was spotless. As a young teenager, I made money by mowing neighbors' lawns and washing their cars. In high school, I even "babysat" my next door neighbors' Great Dane while they were in Europe. I always had spending money. It taught me to work hard and to appreciate the value of a dollar.
 
Nathan said:
Yes and no. With the "no" you should be actively contributing to the household.
With the "yes" you should be learning the value of your labor.
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Thats my thoughts as well.

With my kids they were expected to do age appropriate chores that helped the family, sweeping the floor, keeping things picked up, helping with the dishes, weeding outside, helping with the animals and barn chores, basic day to day life task. I did give them a weekly allowance.

When they wanted more money, or wanted something expensive, I asked for more work, task were easy to come up with. Many times when they wanted something I told them I would pay half and they needed to work to pay the other half. Once they earned their half I took that amount of money and placed it in a secret bank account which I turned over to them after high school graduation. Each had a few thousand dollars accumulated by then, a nice little surprise for them.
 
I never did buy into the Protestant Work Ethic Scam where one is expected to toil in the traces all the live long day in order to make some capitalist overlord rich.

Why teach kids that?

Instead we should be getting them ready to live a life of leisure for when AI does away with 90% of the jobs. :)
 
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I got pocket money for doing jobs and errands ... the idea to teach me the value of money and how to budget.

I remember once wanting some particular toy and mum got me to work out how many weeks I would need to save and watched me put money, every week, into a little piggy bank.
Oh boy .. I was oh so tempted to smash it and get the money back but she wouldn't let me ...so I guess I was learning patience too.
 
I got an allowance, an amount that sounds laughable in today's world. But I never got paid for helping out with chores. I don't remember them expecting me to do household chores anyway. They wanted me to concentrate on my schoolwork.

I don't remember ever paying my kids for doing chores either. We all pretty much shared in the work as needed. But I've loosened up a lot with the grandkids. I don't pay them for chores, but I call on them for help when needed, and often send financial help for things like airfare and other big expenses.

It's all kind of on an "as needed" basis.
 
C50 said:
Thats my thoughts as well.

With my kids they were expected to do age appropriate chores that helped the family, sweeping the floor, keeping things picked up, helping with the dishes, weeding outside, helping with the animals and barn chores, basic day to day life task. I did give them a weekly allowance.

When they wanted more money, or wanted something expensive, I asked for more work, task were easy to come up with. Many times when they wanted something I told them I would pay half and they needed to work to pay the other half. Once they earned their half I took that amount of money and placed it in a secret bank account which I turned over to them after high school graduation. Each had a few thousand dollars accumulated by then, a nice little surprise for them.
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What a lovely idea.

I agree with the first part of your post, too, and it's how DH & I raised our children.
 
Trade said:
I never did buy into the Protestant Work Ethic Scam where one is expected to toil in the traces all the live long day in order to make some capitalist overlord rich.

Why teach kids that?

Instead we should be getting them ready to live a life of leisure for when AI does away with 90% of the jobs. :)
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Well, some of them are going to have to keep improving and refining AI; expanding its reach, adapting it for various fields and specific tasks, maintaining its integrity, speed, security, reliance, etc. ....and be compensated for it.

Maybe the next generation of billionaires will be the people who do nothing more than create the most appealing AI app icons, the coolest AI logos, and the most clickable AI links.
 
I didn't get paid for doing chores, and neither did my kids. They received an allowance fit for spending at the dollar store. The hard part for them was not letting our collie snatch the bills out of their hands.

Our collie had exactly one fault - he ate money. Leave your purse nearby, goodbye wallet, goodbye cash. Leave your wallet on a table, same thing. I had to put friends' purses so he couldn't reach them.
 

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