The latest group of people to get a cost-of-living bump in pay is PRE-TEENS who diligently finish their chores. According to a new report, the average child’s allowance is $52 a month, or roughly $13 a week.
Of course, that could vary a lot based on how OLD the child is, how much WORK they’re putting in, and how tight money is in the house.
Okay grandpa, before you get your panties in a bunch about the number, you do have to consider inflation over time, like everything else.
Imagine that you’re paying a 12-year-old $13 a week . . .
For parents in their 40s, that would be the equivalent of about $22 per month in 1992, or $5.50 per week, or for grandparents in their 70s, that would be about $5 per month in 1962, or $1.25 per week. (I used this inflation calculator.)
If you were making a lot less than that, then yes, you can grumble about how teenagers these days are overpaid.
One place older folks do have a gripe: Chances are, children in previous generations were tasked with doing a lot more for their allowance than today’s teens who may get by with cleaning their room, and doing the dishes.
Either way, an allowance IS educational . . .
78% of parents say their children can handle money responsibly, and 61% admit their kids are more financially responsible than they were at the same age.
56% of parents still hand over cash, but nearly a third have embraced alternatives. 17% pay their kids through digital payment apps like Venmo, and 14% of parents use preloaded debit cards designed for kids.
Others have abandoned currency entirely, and compensate their children in experiences (6%) or screen-time (6%) instead. (That’s clever, but it probably works better for younger kids than teenagers.)
