I think that many who have children really care about the issue of pocket money. To give or not to give? If given, how much? When to start giving and how to control? Questions we are looking for answers to.
And everyone solves this problem for himself, as he can and as he considers right. But globally, two models of parental behavior can be distinguished:
1. When parents are sure that the child needs pocket money . This will allow him to avoid many mistakes in adulthood.
Indeed, in order to learn how to manage money, plan expenses, spend and calculate the budget, you need to teach this. And how to teach if the child has never held money in his hands?
2. Another part of the parents is sure of the opposite. Children and money are incompatible concepts . Why does a child need money? After all, their parents buy everything anyway, and money can spoil or develop such qualities as greed. In addition, children do not know how to spend money and in this case they take more risks (they can be taken away from them or, worse, beaten).
In search of answers, we study the experience of other parents, the experience of foreign countries, we read the advice of psychologists and all sorts of smart books, such as books by Robert Kiyosaki. Sometimes, the abundance and variety of recommendations, points of view and different experiences creates even more chaos and confusion in the head and leads to a state of uncertainty and nervousness.
At times, I just want to say to myself: “Stop, that's enough. Stop for a moment, digest everything you've learned, and apply. But use creatively, relying on your own life experience and intuition, taking into account the character and inclinations of your child.
So, pocket money... Do children need it or not?
Agree, many of us belong to a generation brought up in a somewhat negative attitude towards money. In our families, it was not customary to discuss any financial issues and problems with children . Parents, as a rule, got out as best they could.
And, of course, there was no question of any financial education for children. Therefore, we, the current parents, are for the most part absolutely illiterate financially. Our parents, yes, often, and we ourselves live as God puts on our souls. And we dispose of the money we earn approximately in the same way that it happened in the family, as grandparents, parents or close relatives usually did.
Only now I am beginning to understand that everything in life could be organized differently, with the right attitude towards money. And, for this reason alone, I believe that children should know the value of money from childhood and be able to handle it.
In order for your child to become a rich and happy person, you, the parents, teach him to become such, even if something did not work out in your life and you yourself are not rich at all.
Because the point here is basically not in your condition, but in your head and in your ability to bring up the right attitude towards money in children.
But that's just my point of view.
Let's see what psychologists think about this, and how it happens in other countries.
How are children taught to count money abroad?
Germany
Stable and respectable Germany is known for its passion for economy in everything (albeit within reasonable limits, and, at the same time, the quality of life does not suffer from this at all).
Pocket money from children is welcome here from an early age. Some parents start giving money to their children from the age of 5.
These amounts, of course, are small, but the conditions under which they are issued in some families teach children how to distribute their finances. For example, a child is offered a choice of a certain amount of money or a certain amount of sweets bought for this money. In this way (either money or candy), the child begins to realize the value of money and make choices.
I don't know if this is acceptable in our country. Personally, this way is somehow not very good for me. But that's probably why we are not Germans.
German schoolchildren receive an average of 5-20 euros for their expenses. But, at the same time, many parents immediately take 20% of the issued amount from their children (such a kind of tax).
This is done not because the parents are so greedy and cannot part with the entire amount, but for a specific purpose: to teach children that a tax must be paid on every amount of money.
In Germany, children are encouraged to make money by selling their toys, books and other things they no longer need at flea markets. With this money (when the necessary amount is accumulated), some larger and necessary thing for the child is purchased.
France
For some reason, I never thought that the French (in my opinion, somewhat frivolous in life, but, probably, I was wrong) are capable of such hoarding.
They teach their children to save money and keep financial records of income and expenses from early childhood (5-6 years). Moreover, they are fined for all sorts of children's pranks and faults, significantly reducing the contents of the children's wallet.
French schoolchildren are given 5-30 euros a week for pocket money, and this money is seen more as a way to teach children how to handle money. And if they need to buy something more expensive, children tend to earn money in their spare time.
Having entered the university, many French children are completely removed from the allowance of their parents (they live separately and at the expense of part-time jobs).
How I envy their parents: we will probably never come close to such a model of relations between children and parents. And sometimes you want it.
USA
A country in which financial literacy is taken very seriously (one might even say fanatically), and children are taught to work from childhood (for example, parents can pay them for housework or teenagers earn money by washing cars, mowing lawns, in cafes, etc. .).
The relationship between parents and children comes down financially to a simple scheme: parents try to save up more for their old age, so as not to be a burden for children, and therefore children must earn on their own.
For pocket expenses, American students are given 5-15 dollars. Children can receive systematic education in financial literacy in special camps, where such training takes place in a playful way. Very often, American children take out student loans (in whole or in part).
Sweden
In this country, it is very easy for children to save money and it is not at all expensive for parents.
Imagine, up to the age of 20, Swedish children are paid pocket money by the state - $ 152 per month. School food is free. And if the parents also “participate” in a kind of “co-financing program”, that is, add the same amount from themselves to the amount accumulated from the state, then by the 20th anniversary, a tidy sum will certainly be accumulated in the child’s account.
And even in Sweden, children also earn money by selling their unnecessary things (clothes, toys, books) and from the age of 15 they can organize their own business. There are a lot of such young businessmen in the country.
Well, what I don’t really like is that children in Sweden can eat sweets only on Saturdays.
England
England, as it turned out, is the most loyal country in relation to children. To be honest, I thought the opposite, that in stiff and strict England the most draconian measures in relation to children and child labor.
But it's not like that at all.
The British do not try to "load" their young children with the basics of financial literacy. Although, as a rule, in almost all families, children have piggy banks where they save money. For pocket expenses, children are given $ 8-31 weekly (depending on the age of the child).
There is also a system of part-time jobs for parents. And older children who earn extra money on their own sometimes lose pocket money.
And here is another interesting nuance: if children start earning for real and continue to live with their parents, they pay their parents 10% of their earnings (the so-called parental fee) to pay for utilities and food. And, thus, an understanding is developed: not everything that you yourself have earned can be spent only on yourself.
Türkiye
In this country, the most pleasant and easy way to earn money for children. They receive coins (from 0.5 to 27 dollars) from infancy for kissing older relatives on major national holidays.
School children receive weekly 5.5-16 dollars in pocket money. They start earning money later than in European countries and the USA, from the age of 15-16, and continue to be under the financial care of their parents.
Hungary
Her experience of financial education of children is interesting: they teach how to handle money during the game (for example, Monopoly) and at school lessons.
Pocket money - $12 per week.
Interesting opinion of experts and psychologists
To give or not to give pocket money?
On this issue, both domestic and foreign psychologists are unanimous. It is impossible to gain your own experience and learn how to manage money (spend, save, plan) without real money (at this stage it is pocket money).
At what age should children be given money?
There is no single point of view. But the majority is inclined to believe that money should be given when the child is ready for it (he starts to show interest in this issue, learns to count). For us, this period usually coincides with the beginning of schooling.
How much pocket money to give?
Here everyone decides for himself. It depends on the income in the family, and on a reasonable approach.
Money should not be seen as an incentive to behave well, to get good grades, or worse, to do chores, but rather as a means of teaching a child financial skills.
How often to give out pocket money?
The allocated amount should be constant - for example, 50-100 rubles per week. Usually the need for pocket money arises with the beginning of schooling.
How to teach a child to handle money?
The child must independently dispose of these funds.
Parents, on the other hand, can advise on what to spend money on, how best to manage it, and unobtrusively control it. But the final decision must be made by the child. Since, with strict control over spending by parents, the whole point of pocket money is lost.
For example, you can take your child shopping in preparation for school. And do not be afraid that the child will spend money (in your opinion, completely mediocre on useless things). Any experience is the experience of the child himself. Only in this way will he learn to manage money on his own.
In their popular book Children and Money, child psychologists Ken Davis and Tom Taylor (Davis & Taylor, 1979) give parents detailed advice on pocket money.
The most efficient system should, in their view, follow a few rules:
1. You can give pocket money to a child from 6-7 years old.
2. From the very beginning, you need to explain to the child the meaning of the payments and agree on what expenses of the child they will cover.
3. The amount must be reasonable and increase with age.
4. Small children need to be given money weekly on a certain day, and teenagers can be given money once a month.
5. The issuance of pocket money should not depend on behavior and evaluations and should not be canceled as a punishment.
6. The established amount of money should not be increased under the pretext that the child has already spent everything.
7. The child should be allowed to spend his money as he chooses.
8. The child must have household chores, which he performs for free.
9. Every year (on the child's birthday) the amount of pocket money and the child's obligations must increase.
Used materials from the site ecotonkosti.ru
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