There is a battle of opinion out there as to whether children should get paid for doing chores. One side of the argument is that children are members of the house and with that comes certain expectations where they should help without getting paid. I agree. The other side of the argument is that children should learn the value of earning money and they should get paid for the work they do as a teaching opportunity as well as motivation. I agree. I believe there should be a balance of the two. I believe some things should be expected because they are contributing members of the family, and I think they should also have extras they can do to help earn money. I don’t think money should be a given if expectations aren’t met. I really believe there is value in teaching both. You may have seen my chore ring and help wanted sign. Those crafts might be a great idea for your family too. You can also have a set of expected chores that are simply a responsibility as a family member. You may also like to see how we divide up money that is earned.
My daughter gets paid for some chores and then there are other chores that she is expected to do without payment. I use it as a way to teach my daughter about earning money for a job well done and money management. She opened a bank account and I have been teaching her how to budget her allowance.
I agree! looking up your links now…blessings!
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We have three older teenagers and an almost 9 year old. Our children all had chores that were their responsibility without being paid. They could do extra chores for extra money at our discretion. A child could also do a sibing’s chore for pay if siad sibling didn’t complete theirs in a reasonble amount of time. This practice came in very handy when the tow oldest began to have activities after school that made it more difficult for them to get things done. I like you chore ring beetter than our system for letting them know what they can do for money and what really needs to be done. our kids went through a stage where they wanted to take out the trash with only one or two pieces of paper in the bag in order to earn a quarter. We had to make a new rule that mom or dad had to okay that chore or trash had to be spilling out of the can.
Thanks so much for your ideas. I love the thought that kids can earn extra money by doing their siblings chores that were undone. I do think it would have to be when they are older and busier since I wouldn’t want them to never learn to keep up their end of the responsibilities in the house. I definitely need to file that idea for down the road after they’ve established good habits. My daughter has been really wanting me to find chores for her the last few days, so I understand the child who is dusting something when it doesn’t need dusting or taking out a virtually empty garbage just to make the money. It’s definitely good to have some guidelines. Thanks for adding to the conversation.
I know this is an older post, but I appreciate your thoughts as I am trying to figure out my chore/money
Philosophy for my almost-3-yr old. We just started. Chore chart where we put stickers for daily chores and Ibam using it more as an organizational tool and way to make it fun- so far, no rewards other than the sticker. But I like the idea of being able to earn extra money for optional jobs too! Thanks for pointing out that the two philosophies can co-exist.
Thanks so much for commenting. I think having stickers as a reward and motivation is a great way to do it. I am glad you like the thought that they can co-exist. I think they co-exist in the real world, so it only makes sense to me to mirror that. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!