The idea of allowances is not something that is new at all. This is because, as children, many of us had allowances given to us, or, should I call them, pocket money. These are on a lower tier than allowances because they are only designed to cater to a specific need and nothing else. If you use it for something else, you won’t be able to do whatever it was that the money was originally for.
And many times, as children, this was the kind of money we got. We got it when we were going to school, to cover our transportation to school and also our food during break. When we were the only ones staying at home, we also got pocket money dedicated solely to feeding. On and on it went; we only had enough to do the things we had to do, and there was not enough to save at all.
Pocket money only comes on specific occasions, like when we have to go to school or when we’re home alone. This means that when we don’t go to school and when we’re home with our parents or other adults, there will be no pocket money for that day. Yeah, that’s how it works.
But then, allowance is a different ball game entirely. Allowance is more than pocket money because you’d be expected to use your initiative when spending it. Unlike pocket money that’s for a specific purpose, allowance gives you freedom to decide what exactly you want to spend your money on. It also teaches you budgeting and how to employ the scale of preference when spending your money. Because without it, you’d simply be spending it all as you’re getting it. So, in a nutshell, allowance is basically what teaches you the right way to handle your salary.
So now, you see how important this lesson is? The question now is, should children be given allowances? This is quite tricky, because what exactly are you giving them allowance for? What exactly is it that they need to spend money on? If you expose your children to money at a young age, they may end up buying things that would use to ruin their lives. Also, children shouldn’t be incentivized with money. Don’t make them do chores so you can pay them, that will be setting a bad precedent.
And in the end, the age and maturity of your child will determine for sure if they’ll be trusted with allowances. For some of us, we only got our first allowance after we went to the higher institution. Others started getting theirs way too early. And there are those that regardless of how old they’ve gotten, they still collect allowances.
It’s life, but all in all, it all depends on the parents.
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