Chores – A Set Allowance or Another Idea Worth Reflection

I recently heard of several ideas that jarred my thinking regarding household chores, and as I contemplated them, I felt they were worth sharing. #1. Within families, children at various ages  have differing abilities for completing chores; therefore, it is likely that when children receive the same allowance and yet one does more and/or harder tasks than another (due to age and maturity), it arises in a child the wonderment of fairness (okay, okay, but stay with me), and it squelches incentive to go above and beyond the expected. Idea #2. There should be no allowance for ‘chores’ that are regarded as expectations for being a member of the family. In other words, everyone chips in and does his or her part to make the family home operational; the attitude of serving each other is expected. Age-appropriate and routine chores such as taking out the trash, clearing the dinner table, loading and unloading the dishwasher, and so forth are normal expectations and should be seen as a means of contributing to the functioning of the family; no allowance given. 

To summarize:  This individual’s thinking suggested that there should be no allowance for basic chores that contribute to the running of the household; however, if a parent does decide to give an allowance, then the amount should be based on the difficulty and number of chores assigned.

Idea #3. When it comes to chores, what brings added-value to the family or to the community?  This is where payment should reside according to his thinking. For example, a child ‘contracts’ to pick up the pinecones which are falling off the pine trees onto the yard, becoming a nuisance and dulling the mower blades. This child identifies the problem and offers a solution by picking them up for a penny a cone. Is that added-value? You be the judge, but I believe this example gives us something to think about. This proposition came from my 9-year-old grandchild, so it readily came to mind. 

Another example: Let’s say an older child is really good at math, and he or she sees that a younger sibling is struggling with long division or fractions, for example. Mom is busy with meal prep, and Dad isn’t home from work, so the older sibling has an ah-ha moment. He/she offers to set up a tutoring business for not only his sibling, but for the neighbor kids as well. He makes and distributes flyers and even lists his math teacher’s recommendation. Very entrepreneurial! Perhaps he does this at no charge to the sibling (very fitting!), but requires a small fee for a neighbor’s child.

Here’s where the rub comes in, and no doubt, you have already thought of it. Aren’t there things in life that we should do for others out of the kindness of our hearts and without a monetary reward? Absolutely! So if you are thinking about this idea, I believe there definitely needs to be teaching that goes along with the concept of added-value. Not always should good works be tied to a monetary  reward, especially in the case of widows, orphans, the weak, and needy (Psalm 82: 3-4), or family.

How about this? No payment for the expected household chores; however, payment for the added-value tasks. To assist with this, perhaps a list of these ‘chores’ could be placed on the fridge in order to jumpstart a child’s thinking. Later, encourage your children to produce their own added-value chores. Could the added-value concept be training in a strong work ethic, creativity, identifying needs and developing solutions, offering kindness and helpfulness toward folks, while also learning the basic fundamentals of economics and entrepreneurship?  I wonder what you think.