When you’re a busy parent with limited free time, it can be difficult to find a balance between work, chores and playtime. That’s why assigning chores as a way for kids to help support the family and learn good habits is so important. Research shows that kids who help out around the house are more successful later in life. But if your child is resistant or you feel like they don’t understand the importance of completing their chores, there are other ways to encourage them to pitch in. Many parents choose to pay their children an allowance or offer incentives like video game time or cell phone privileges as incentive to complete their chores. Let’s take a look at how much money you should pay your child for household chores, along with some other methods that may help incentivize your kid.
Finding the Right Amount
If you’re thinking about paying your child for chores, it’s important to understand how much money is appropriate for their age and skill level. That way, you can avoid paying too much or too little for the work that’s being done. While there are no hard and fast rules for finding the right amount of money to pay a child for chores, there are a few factors to consider. Like most jobs, the cost of doing household chores will vary depending on where you live and the cost of living in your area. To figure out how much to pay your child for chores, you’ll want to consider how long the chore takes, how difficult it is and the skill level needed to complete the chore.
Monthly Allowance
If you decide to pay your child a monthly allowance for completing chores, it’s important that the amount you pay them is based on their age and the level of responsibility they have in the household. When you’re determining how much to pay your child for chores, you’ll want to factor in the time it takes them to complete the chores, their skill level and their age. For example, a 10-year-old who is expected to do their own laundry, make their bed and help with kitchen cleanup may earn a smaller allowance than a 15-year-old who is expected to do their own laundry, make their bed, help with kitchen cleanup and walk the family dog.
Pay-Per-Chore Option
If you want to encourage your child to pitch in around the house but you’re concerned about paying them too much for their age, there’s an alternative. You can make a deal with your child that instead of paying them an allowance each month, you’ll pay them for every chore they complete. There’s no specific formula for how much you should pay your child per chore, but you can base it on their age, skill level and how long the chore takes to complete. For example, if your 10-year-old child is expected to make their bed every morning, walk the dog, do their laundry and vacuum the living room on Saturdays, you might decide to pay them $2 per chore. That way they’ll earn $8 per week or $32 per month.
Time Chore Reward
If you’re looking for an alternative to paying your child an allowance or per-chore pay, you can offer them time as a reward for completing chores. If your child is expected to complete a specific number of chores on a regular basis, you can offer them a certain amount of time that they can spend playing video games, using the computer or watching TV. For example, if your child is expected to walk the dog every morning and evening, make their bed, clean their room and do light kitchen cleanup on Saturdays, you can reward them with 30 minutes of video game time for completing all of their chores.
Video Game Chore Reward
If you want to encourage your child to complete more chores around the house, you can use video game time as a reward for completing a specific number of chores each week. For example, if your 10-year-old is expected to complete 10 chores per week, you can reward them with 30 minutes of gaming time each week. That way they can earn an extra 60 minutes of gaming time per month. You can use a chore chart and tick off the chores each time they are completed.
Cell Phone Chore Reward
If you’re a parent who pays your child for chores, you may wonder how you can use their cell phone reward for chores. That’s because most traditional cell phone plans don’t offer an option that rewards your child for completing chores. Unfortunately, you can’t use your cell phone plan to reward your child for completing chores. However, there is one option that you can use. Some cell phone providers let you add extra lines to your plan. And some of these providers will let you pay the fee for the extra line with a prepaid or debit card. This is called an add-on line. That way, you can reward your child for completing their chores by adding an extra line to your cell phone plan, and then paying the fee with their cell phone.
Bottom line – How much should you pay your child?
When you’re determining how much money to pay your child for chores, it’s important to take into account their age, the level of responsibility they have in the household and the time it takes to complete the chores. That way, you can avoid paying too much or too little for the work that’s being done. The best way to encourage your child to pitch in around the house is to give them the opportunity to make decisions about the chore schedule. Let them determine how often each chore needs to be completed, and let them decide which chores they want to do. You may be surprised by how eager they are to take on extra responsibilities.