Allowance

Children may receive money by allowance, as gifts, or by earning it. There is no right or wrong way to provide children with money since each family is in a unique financial situation, deciding whether or not to use an allowance is a family decision.

Many parents feel pressured by their children into giving an allowance because the children’s friends are receiving an allowance. There may not be enough money in the family to provide an allowance or parents may not want to provide an allowance. There are many ways besides allowances for parents to provide learning experiences about money.

If you do give an allowance it can be adjusted if your financial situation changes. When parents include children in discussions of family financial problems, they are quite often surprised at how supportive and helpful children can be during these times.