Chores and allowance by age: How much allowance for chores?

In 2021, GoHenry kids’ earned a combined $26 billion from their weekly allowance, completing chores and receiving money through Giftlinks from family and friends. While it's entirely down to parental choice, paying children to do household chores is an effective way to teach kids practical and financial skills.

Louse Hill, co-founder and COO of GoHenry says, "With 75% of children agreeing that financial education will help them in their future career, empowering children to earn money from a young age could have a lasting positive outcome on equality and job opportunities in the US.” 

According to the latest GoHenry Youth Economy Report, 60% of kids using GoHenry completed paid chores on their app, which earned them a combined $3.1 billion. It’s clear that paid chores are helping them learn crucial money.

But even when parents decide they want to pay their kids an allowance for doing chores, many wonder, "how much should I pay my child for chores?" and “what is the current price per chore?” If this sounds like you, you're in the right place.

Should I pay my child pocket money for doing chores?

teaching them essential skills, and money management is high on the list. One of the most important ways for young people to learn is through hands-on experience. Paying your child to do chores gives them hands-on practice when the stakes are low, and you are there to support them and monitor their spending and saving.

Giving your children money to do age-appropriate weekly chores, whether laying the table, putting away their toys, or sweeping the floor, has numerous benefits for parents and kids. For children, it can build character, boost their self-esteem, and develop a solid work ethic and respect for earning money. It also celebrates achievements and shows appreciation. If your child helps with the housework, the extra allowance becomes a bonus reward. It's a great way to teach your kids about the value of money and the importance of hard work. 

"Providing kids with payment for chores can help them understand the concept of earned income as opposed to money received as a gift.  Earning money helps kids to understand both the value of earning and the value of money by allowing them to appreciate the connection between work and financial gain.”

Beth Zemble, VP of Education, GoHenry

Paying kids to do chores also teaches them:

• Life skills

• How to follow instructions

• The importance of taking care of things

• The value of teamwork

• To understand the connection between work and money

• Delayed gratification

You can use the Acorns Early app to set paid chores for your children with a fixed value of your choosing. Once your child has completed the chores, they simply tick them as done in the app. Once approved, they'll get paid for the completed chore.

What’s the best way to pay for chores?

Not everyone agrees that kids should be paid for chores. If it’s something you’re mulling over, there are ways to implement earning but with your own values attached.

“Practicing real-world financial skills will help children to build the resilience and independence they need. Research from GoHenry has revealed that 84% of parents feel they would have made better financial decisions if they had received financial education before the age of 18. It’s so important to teach kids how to budget, earn and spend safely from a young age to instill positive habits as they grow into adulthood.”

Louise Hill, Co-founder and COO of GoHenry

There are various ways to pay your child for chores. The best method depends on your child and your budget.

• If they’re highly motivated to earn money by doing chores, you may want to pay them per chore, as this keeps their interest high. It also encourages them to ask you for extra chores.

• If your child quickly loses interest in doing their chores, you’re best paying them weekly for all chores. Tell them tidying their room and doing their homework every day for a week will earn them X amount. This motivates them to do them daily.

• If your child is very reluctant to do chores, set up a high-end goal saying that if they do X number of chores for a month, they’ll earn enough to do Y or buy Z.

• If you’re not sure about paying for chores, don't pay for those expected of your child as a household member; pay for the ones you wouldn't expect them to do. Perhaps, cleaning the car, gardening, volunteering to walk the dog or washing the floors.

How much should I pay my child per chore?

For some parents, one of the most challenging aspects of paying their kids to do chores is deciding how much money to give them, especially when taking the pay-by-chore route. 

Average earnings per chore

In most cases, how much you pay your kids will come down to your household budget, what other money they might get, and what you expect them to spend their money on. In 2021, the average weekly earnings from paid tasks through the app was $1.34. But how does this compare to the previous year?

The average highest-paid chores:

• Doing homework: $1.93

• Wash dishes: $1.67

• Tidying room: $1.67

Chores that don't pay quite as well:

• Make bed: $0.97

• Garbage/recycling: $1.14

• Feed pets: $1.21

Top chores children are paid for

When the pandemic hit in 2020, children's allowance earnings increased, with parents relying on kids for help and also trying to keep them occupied. But once kids returned to school, they still kept up the momentum of doing household chores. What’s changed since then is which tasks are the most popular to complete by young earners.

In 2021, the top four chores were:

• Babysitting: up 31%

• Washing the car: up 20%

• Doing laundry: up 20%

• Feeding pets: up 13%

 While the four tasks less popular than the year before included:

• Gardening: down 58%

• Dusting: down 17%

• Helping with shopping: down 34%

• Walking the dog: down 26%

Example age-appropriate chores lists for 6 to 16-year-olds

It can be hard to think of chores for your kids but if you're considering what to ask them to do, consider their age and how responsible they are and then give them time to perfect the task. Kids may never do chores the way you will, but if they give it their best, then that's worthy of payment. The most common chores per age are:

Chores for 6 to 7-year-olds

By the age of 6, most kids are familiar with what needs doing around the house. It’s entirely your choice whether or not you want to start paying your children for chores at this age. 

Here are a few ideas and rates of pay to get you started.

• Brushing teeth: $0.84
• Putting away toys: $1.24
• Making their bed: $0.97
• Putting away clothes: $0.84
• Getting ready for school: $0.89

Chores for 8 to 9-year-olds

By 8, your children may already be doing things like putting their toys away of their own accord. If you feel the time’s right for your 8 or 9-year-old to start helping more, you’ll find a complete list of chores for 8 to 9-year-olds on our blog. But here are some ideas and rates of pay to get you started.

• Loading or emptying the dishwasher: $1.23
• Putting away clothes: $0.84
• Taking out the trash/recycling $1.14
• Tidying their room - $1.67
• Feeding pets - $1.21

Chores for 10 to 12-year-olds

You’ll find a longer list of chores for 10 to 12-year-olds on our blog. But here are a few suggestions and average rates of pay to get you started.   

• Homework - $1.93
• Laundry - $1.48
• Tidying their room - $1.67
• Garbage/recycling $1.14
• Vacuuming - $1.55

Chores for teens

Many US teenagers earn an allowance for helping around the house. A teen chore chart is a great way to help them stay on top of their weekly tasks. Here are some chore ideas for teens and suggested rates of pay.

• Doing their homework - $1.93
• Vacuuming: $1.55
• Garbage/recycling: $1.14
• Laundry: $1.48
• Feeding pets: $1.21

How much allowance should you give by age?

Some families choose to give their children an allowance without any chore requirements. Others link an allowance with paid-for chores. However you decide to work your kids’ allowance, it’s a great way to help them learn to manage their income. 

So how much weekly allowance should you give them by age? A common rule of thumb is to pay children between 50 cents to $1 per week for each year of their age. Following this rule, a 10-year-old’s allowance would be between $5 and $10 per week, while a 16-year-old would get between $8 and $16 per week. 

Average allowance per week for different ages:

If you want to pay pocket money once chores have been completed, you might want to know what the average amount of pocket money is for different ages. Below is a summary of the average pocket money per age taken from our US Pocket Money Index 2021.

Make paying your kids for chores easy with Acorns Early 

If you want to easily pay your children for doing chores, set up paid tasks in the Acorns Early app. Once your child completes their tasks and you have approved them, the money automatically goes into your child’s Acorns Early account. Then it’s ready for them to spend using their debit card. The tasks can be whatever you want, and if you want to add additional money you can easily send them more funds in the Acorns Early app.

A debit card is a great way for your children to use their allowance. It means your children can spend money without the risk of an overdraft or going into debt. They can complete their chores and experience the reward of allowance — worry-free.

Paid tasks alone can be very helpful for teaching your kids about finances. Our Money Missions are a great way to support their financial education, with fun videos, quizzes, and the ability to earn badges. They'll learn about money basics, jobs, earning, saving habits, spending wisely, budgeting, money safety and more!

Find out how Acorns Early can help boost your child's financial education from the age of 6.