Pocket money

[Lonnie]

An article in todays paper, cited a sixteen year old schoolgirl who was fined �75-00 for leaving a looly stick on a wall, the article said it was almost all of two months Pocket Money,

I know i'm a child of the 50s and 60s, and maybe a little out of touch, but would (lets say) �20-00 per week be about normal, and if not, what would the average pocket money per week be, nowadays?.

[Lonnie]

Looly, (ahem) should read Lolly.

[Lonnie]

Looly (ahem), should read Lolly.

[JamesEverton]

2 months =~ 8 weeks. So �10 a week, perhaps. Not even a packet of fags and 2 bottles of Strongbow.

[Danni79]

LOL!! When I was young I had a weekly choice of either a comic or a small treat (i.e choccy bar) that was fine for me, I never remember questioning it!! oh how times have changed.......or maybe I was just easily pleased!!

[Trotbot]

Alex Higgins gave me 50p for finding his cat in 1978, which was five times my weekly pocket money. Anyone bored enough to say what tenpence is now.

Then it was 30 fruit salads, or a comic and 6 fruit salads (never liked blackjacks) or I think 4 packs of Panini stickers with 6 (or maybe 5, but a close run thing).

[sense4all]

You don't get pocket money in my house you get an allowance of �5 per hour for jobs that you do offset against your extra costs. So : son would like to go to cinema 20 pounds (by the time you fill the dishwasher after dinners and tidy your room properly you should have it covered.) When this was complained about, I charged a fiver an hour for my time and got out a quote for the taxi costs from our local cab firm ..... voila. You should have seen their faces when I threatened to take 25 per cent tax too! Just for a laugh.

[Pippa68]

My two eldest get around �30 per month each ~ but only if they do their chore list.

If they miss anything out they get �s deducted..aren't I evil? lol. Saying that, what they do get they can spend on what they like..I buy all the stuff they need in the way of clothes & toiletries.

They still have the OTE more if they wish (cleaning cars etc). Nothing comes for free ~ they are learning this at a young age!

[Bohne]

Just from hearsay, I think that 10 pounds a week for a 16-year-old is normal today.

At that age I got about 8 pounds a month, though...

[noxlumos]

My little ones under 10 get �10 per week but with that they pay themselevs for things like cinema and treats and the older ones get �20 basic plus they earn money for working (either for themselves or for me) so sounds pretty average I think.

[AreebaAreeba]

Don't take this personally because it's not meant to be and I don't have kids yet so have no point of reference. I'm simply curious: what can a child under ten spend ten pounds on in a week?

[BigDogsWang]

I pay my 7 year old �10 per week for doing odd jobs around the house, and picking up litter from the alleyway across the road.

I then charge him �12 per week for his bed and board. To date he owes me �252.00.

Thats my pension sorted!

[Lonnie]

Looks like most people on here handle the pocket money issue with common sense, I was born in 1949, and the most I got before I started work in 1964, one shilling, 5 pence, but that was because my father was disabled from the war, and we lived on benefits, but we were happy,

Us kids, made do, used our imagination, we put on shows, sporting events etc, and charged the parents and neighbours to watch, plus running errands for a Tanner a time,

I remember, as In a Pickle will, you could buy lollies, chew, and other things for a penny, Saturday morning pictures cost Sixpence, the afternoon matinee cost ninepence, and you got two films for that, life wasn't bad,

[joko]

according to a recent survey it is �6.75 pw. though it doesn't say the age, just that this is an average

[noxlumos]

hi Areeba, well I asked my 8 year old daughter for a basic run through and generally she pockets a fiver or so and sticks it in her bank account and spends the rest on a variety of 8 year old type stuff such as:-

Pony Magazine �3.50, cinema ticket �2.50, sweets, toys , felt tips etc etc etc.

�10 really goes nowhere with anything these days.

[brachiopod]

Hi Areeba, - good question. I think we are meant to infer that a child under ten getting �10 a week would 'spend' it on the things that mummy and daddy usually pay for out of their purse/wallet.

The 'Pod larva is only 2�, so doesn't get regular pocket money 'in his hand', though Missus 'Pod and I stick a certain amount away in his account each month (if we can afford it).

We do, however, "make him pay" whether it's on a day out to a zoo, museum, trip etc etc.or in the local shop by giving him the money to pay "the man" at the counter. On days out, there is usually (conveniently) just enough change left (a pound or two) of 'his' money to spend in the inevitable gift shop at the end of the day - which means he doesn't hassle us for more, and learns the value of what he has.

(God, I sound like 'Competitive Dad' from The Fast Show !) He is still spoilt rotten though !!!

[WoWo]

I used to get 35p a week in the 80's

[198x]

I must admit I chuckled at BDW's methods of pocket money, although it's slightly right.

When I was a kid I used to get �2.50 pocket money a week from my nan. Why would a kid need �10 a week for? Apart from mobile phone topup, maybe some hooch and maybe some nappies for their kids.