$50 a week? Allowances keep climbing ["Better Economy"]

Chicago Tribune ^ | 2/3/14

[SoFloFreeper]

There's been a big jump in the number of parents who are giving their children allowances bigger than $10 or $20 a week, according to numbers crunched for Reuters by Baltimore-based money managers T. Rowe Price, which are derived from its annual Parents, Kids & Money surveys....

"There could be a couple of things going on here," explains Stuart Ritter, senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price. "One is that as the economy has been getting better, families are feeling a little more stable and are sharing that with the kids.

[SoFloFreeper]

So increasing COSTS mean a better economy? Nice analysis there, guys.

[knarf]

I'mm 66 ... never had an allowance and never gave one to any of my five children.

We're all working class hero's and by God proud of it.

[Domandred]

I only get $10 a week. No way in heck are my kids getting anywhere near $50.

[PowderMonkey]

"One is that as the economy has been getting better, families are feeling a little more stable and are sharing that with the kids."

Senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price? Satire, right? Please say it's satire. Little wonder these guys are jumping off buildings and bridges all around the world. They would do better reading the goat entrails and tea leafs.

[Gay State Conservative]

IIRC I got a couple of bucks a week allowance...back in the 50’s/60’s.I must say that it gave me an early lesson in budgeting...prioritizing....saving.One of several *very* valuable lessons my Dad taught me on the subject of money.Another one he taught me...one that's served me *very* well...is to live below your means.

[Einherjar]

Many years ago : allowance ?? you are allowed to eat here, you are allowed to sleep here..............etc

[Gay State Conservative]

I only get $10 a week. No way in heck are my kids getting anywhere near $50.

So you're bitter that the wife only gives you $10/week pocket money? ;-)

[central_va]

So you're bitter that the wife only gives you $10/week pocket money? ;-)

One time my wife gave me a $100 bill for some reason. I didn't know what it was it looked funny to as I had never seen one before.

[John O]

Parents buying their kids’ silence. They refuse to spend time with them so they buy them off with money.

My daughter gets $5 per week when I remember to give it to her and when she remembers to ask for it. It’s not really that big of a deal to either of us I think.

[wbill]

$50 a week? For What?????

I don't have $50 worth of chores to do around the house.

[happyhomemaker]

I actually give my teen son around $50 a week but he pays for lunch/snacks and gas with it. $50 doesn’t go far when you are a growing teen and gas is $3.50 a gallon.

[napscoordinator]

Wow. 50 bucks. I feel like a cheapskate giving my kids 10 bucks a week. That is still 30 bucks for the 3 boys and 5 dollars for the daughter who is 5 years old. I am getting away with murder compared to the parents shelling out 50 bucks. Keep this story to ourselves.

[napscoordinator]

I actually give my teen son around $50 a week but he pays for lunch/snacks and gas with it. $50 doesn’t go far when you are a growing teen and gas is $3.50 a gallon.

I can understand that for sure. The reason I only give my 15 year old son 10 bucks a week is because he doesn’t have his license yet. Plus, his Mom and I pay for pretty much everything and the ten bucks can be either saved or spent on something…again doesn’t go far at all. Soon 10 bucks will buy him a pack of gum if he is lucky. lol.

[moovova]

How does the kid’s cell phone calculate into the “allowed” amount?

[bgill]

allowance ?? you are allowed to eat here, you are allowed to sleep here

Ours were allowed to get after school jobs. Yeah, the economy is so great that I haven't spent $10 on myself in years and was only able to send the now college aged kiddos back from Christmas break with jars of homemade jellies and leftover Christmas dinner.

[Ditto]

When I was in high school back in the 60s, my dad would give me $1 a day. That covered my lunch at school... 60 cents a day and the 40 cents was mine to spend as I choose. It usually went for some more food after school. ;~))

Do a CPI calculation on that $1 dollar in the early 1960s, and that equals about $8 dollars today or about $40 a week.

[tbw2]

The only time my kids make that much is if they are working at the flea market, babysitting or otherwise EARNING it.

[Vigilanteman]

If we asked father for an allowance, he would remind us that he paid a nickel for every row of corn we hoed. Sometime in the late 1960s, he generously raised it to a quarter.

When the growing season was over, he had a schedule for all sorts of other household chores, the best paying of which was $2 for mucking out a cow stall. If nobody volunteered, they got drafted. Draftees didn't get paid like volunteers and we knew it. Accordingly, the better paying jobs didn't go unfilled for very long.

[knarf]

YEP ... and there five doors on our house ... they all swing out ... if you leave ....

Dad didn't screw around.

These are the best days of your life, take advantage of 'em, learn and get strong.

[EQAndyBuzz]

When my son was 12 we gave him 10 bucks a week, 5 of which went into his savings account.

At 13, he asked if we could loan him the money for a lawn mower so he can earn his own money. We loaned him 150 dollars and he agreed to pay back 15 dollars a month. He spent his own money on business cards and my wife helped him with the flyers. He bought the ink and paper for the printer.

He paid us back in two months. Over the last 5 years, he started an ebay business where he helped people get rid of junk in their garage in exchange for a piece of the action. He became a referee, earning 30 bucks for 45 minutes of work.

He’s now a business major in college. Before he left for college, he gave us a check for the allowance we gave him when he was a kid. To the penny.