The average child in Britain will earn £220 during the six-week summer holidays by doing chores around the house, according to a new report.
Research carried out by household appliance manufacturer Indesit found that almost one-third (32 per cent) of parents will be giving their little ones pocket money in return for helping out with domestic chores this summer, with the average going rate per chore coming in at £1.75, the Daily Star reports.
What’s more, ten per cent of busy mums and dads are willing to pay their children as much as £5 per chore, as it means a cleaning task gets done without them needing to do anything and it keeps the kids quiet in the process.
But is this really the most efficient way that parents could be spending their money? And should kids be allowed to just be kids while they’re off school?
Chores help teach responsibilities
Many of the parents surveyed by Indesit said they believed getting their kids to help with household chores helped to teach them about responsibilities, with 20 per cent of children agreeing that they wanted to learn how to do tasks for themselves. Meanwhile, almost half said they liked helping out their parents.
Ian Moverley, brand communications director at Indesit, commented: “Household chores may not be glamorous, but they are necessary, and knowing how to do them efficiently and effectively is a life skill for all of the family to master.
“If we all get involved, they can be done in half the time and we can help to banish domestic gender stereotypes.”
Family psychologist Emma Kenny added: “Chore inequality still pervades in many British households, but by involving children playfully, they can see that sharing the housework makes it much more manageable.”
Should kids have to work in the summer?
Although there are some valuable lessons for children to learn by getting them to help out with chores and learn about earning their own money during the summer holidays, some would argue that kids should just be allowed to be kids and spend their time off school playing and having a break before a new term of learning begins.
Therefore, in households where an extra pair of hands to help with the chores would be welcomed, but that want to let their children simply enjoy themselves, a professional cleaning company could be a good investment.
Kids are likely to only spend their pocket money on sweets that they could probably do without, so paying for a cleaner instead could prove a more effective use of cash, especially if there are concerns about how thoroughly children will actually do the job. After all, busy mums and dads don’t want to have to pay the kids to sweep the floor, only to find it’s not been done very well and have to finish the job themselves, meaning they will have wasted their money and their time.
There is also the argument that children shouldn’t receive money for doing chores as parents don’t, but jobs still need doing and fun deserves to be had.
At FastKlean, our professional cleaners can carry out a range of chores, including vacuuming, mopping and dusting, meaning there will still be some smaller jobs for the kids to help out with, such as the washing up or unloading the dishwasher, which will still leave them with a new sense of responsibility, but plenty of time to play as well.
Should children be paid for helping out around the house? Comment below
Source: Daily Star
Dan
written on 21 August 2017 -I have a 3 month old at home at we are a while off him helping with the chores yet, but I have also just employed a domestic cleaner as my view is given the choice of spending my spare time doing household chores or spending the time with my family there is no contest.
In terms of teaching my child valuable life lessons i would rather talk to them and teach them that force them to do chores for money, this builds a feeling of resentment in the child and at the first opportunity (university or moving out) the getting paid to do chores stops, them doing the chores is also likely to stop! I only have to think back to some of my friends rooms when I was 18.