Nobody likes doing the housework, but if you’re a parent, you can rest assured that you might have a little bit of help at hand!
Of course, kids won’t necessarily be that enthusiastic about chipping in with the housework either, but there is one way to win them round.
It’s amazing quite how persuasive a few pounds can be when it comes to getting the children to pull their weight and clean up after themselves.
We were therefore fascinated to read the results of a new study outlining exactly how much mums and dads are paying their offspring to do some chores.
Online pocket money and allowance tracker RoosterMoney polled 11,000 kids aged between four and 14 to see what jobs they help out with and what they get for them.
The average child can expect to earn 88p if they take the bins out, while washing the family car could net them an impressive £3.79.
Alternatively, parents are likely to pay their kids £1.43 for doing the washing up, while children can get £1.44 if they clean their room.
Kids might also bag themselves a healthy £3.52 if they assist with the gardening, while taking the dog for a walk can be worth £1.76.
Of course, children often expect to receive pocket money without actually doing anything to earn it.
Photo credit: ThriftyFun.com
In fact, the research by RoosterMoney found that the average child receives £3.47 in pocket money every week, which works out to £180.44 a year.
And the amount they get goes up when they get older. While the average seven-year-old can expect pocket money of £2.85 a week, it can be as much as £5.41 by the time a child is 14.
Extra rewards can also be earned if they behave well, get good grades at school and are conscientious with their music practice, and that’s before we’ve mentioned money donated by the Tooth Fairy.
But paying them to clean up in the house can provide a much more regular incentive for them to be good and save you a little work in the process.
Of course, there are limits to what you can realistically expect the kids to do – and what you can do yourself.
In which case, why not pay to bring in a professional cleaning service, as they will have specialist equipment and knowledge they can use to give your house a thorough once-over?
But getting the kids to help out with small tasks does take the weight off your shoulders the rest of the time, while the prospect of a financial reward also helps them understand the true value of money.
As Will Carmichael, chief executive of RoosterMoney, says: “Getting into a pocket money routine can transform a child’s understanding of money and doesn’t have to be a costly burden.
“Whether it’s 50p or £5 a week, empowering your kids to start making decisions about what they do with their money can help give them good money habits for life.”
© FastKlean
