Are you weighing up the benefits of asking your child to start helping around the house? It can be hard to know what’s right for your children, what chores they can handle, and more importantly, what chores they're willing to do. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of chores for kids.
When should kids start doing chores?
Only you know exactly when your kids are ready to start doing chores. However, there are usually some chores that children can handle from as young as six – or maybe even younger. Of course, the important thing is to pick chores that are age-appropriate.
When your child is young, they might be able to tidy away their toys and put their dirty clothes in the laundry basket. As your children get older and more confident with chores they can help with more involved tasks, like helping with the dishes, setting the table and putting away laundry. There are some chores that should only be handled by older children – for example, helping cook meals or taking out recycling, since these chores have a risk that younger children could get hurt.
You’ll also need to think about how many chores to give your child. Too many chores might be overwhelming, especially if they have a lot of homework or after-school activities.
What are the pros of giving kids chores?
There are a lot of benefits to giving kids chores which can help set your kids up for adult life.
Pride – Completing chores can give your child a real sense of pride and accomplishment, which boosts their self-esteem.
Time management – Having chores can help teach your child about how to manage their time, especially if they want to get their chores done quickly to get back to playing.
Life skills – All kinds of chores build great life skills, such as cleaning, cooking and managing a household. This is hugely important for kids of all ages.
Responsibility – Chores can help teach your child responsibility when they’ll see that if they don’t do their chores, no one will.
Problem-solving – Even simple tasks like pairing up socks can help teach your child great problem-solving skills.
What are the cons of giving kids chores?
There can be some downsides to giving children chores, but as with anything, as long as how you manage giving your child chores will make the cons more or less likely:
Stress – Children are getting more and more homework from schools, and there’s a lot of pressure for kids to stay on top. Making sure that chores don’t over-stress them is important. A great way to approach this is by talking to your child about chores and finding a good balance.
Clumsiness – Kids can be clumsy. This typically means that chores take a long time, and there’s a risk that something might even get broken. However, this can be a great time to teach your child about owning up to accidents, and what to do when something goes wrong.
Should I pay my children pocket money for doing chores?
Rewards are one of the simplest ways to motivate your children to do chores. Not all rewards need to be financial – you could give your child other rewards, such as treats, a later bedtime, or more screentime. However, giving your child pocket money for doing chores can teach them the value of money, and it can give them a sense of self-esteem to know that they can earn money.
If you decide to give your child pocket money for doing chores, you’ll also need to decide how much money to give as a reward. You can see what the average is for each chore by looking at our Youth Economy Report.
Make household chores easier with GoHenry
Managing your kid’s chores is easy with the paid task feature on GoHenry. Parents can assign children a task on the app. Once it’s done, and you confirm this, your kid gets reward money transferred straight onto their prepaid GoHenry debit card. On top of money for completing chores, you can also set up weekly allowance transfers and send one-off payments. Plus, if your child helps out another relative, or they've been extra good, they can easily send money straight to your child's GoHenry card as a treat.
If you’re worried about how your child might spend their reward money, we’ve got you covered. Our in-app Money Missions have bite-sized lessons for every age, and more advanced topics for kids ages 12+. These fun videos and quizzes teach your child about jobs & earnings, spending wisely, and saving habits. You can rest assured that your child will make good use of the money they earn doing chores.
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