MUM-of-one Chelle Brown, 38, is proud to be one of Britain’s strictest parents when it comes to pocket money.
Her six-year-old son gets two pounds a week as pocket money – and only after he completes a long list of household chores including cleaning his room, making his bed, sweeping floors and even digging up weeds.
She told The Sun: “Parents who do not expect their children to be responsible and do chores for pocket money are irresponsible. It’s bad parenting.”
Meanwhile, mum-of-three Whitney Ainscough, 31, doles out £500 a month – or £125 a week – to her 11-year-old daughter in pocket money and doesn’t ask her to lift a finger around the house.
The former Universal Credit claimant, who now makes TikTok content, calls it “selfish” of parents to expect their children to do jobs when they should be enjoying being kids instead.
It’s a dilemma facing parents across Britain – should children do chores in return for pocket money?
MORE ON MONEY
The subject is splitting social media forums as parents battle it out over who is raising their kids right.
Those who insist their kids do chores for cash are being branded taskmasters or tyrants, while parents who dish out funds are told they’re spoiling their children and not helping them understand the value of money.
In years gone by, perhaps it was fine to give kids money for nothing – but with the cost of living rising, pocket money has got more expensive as kids now need a lot more cash to get the same goods.
Children in the UK now get £3.78 in pocket money a week on average, with six-year-olds typically getting £3.04 weekly, 10-year-olds getting an average of £4.90- and 16-year-olds getting £14.68 a week on average, according to a 2023 study by Natwest.
Most read in Money
But just over half (53%) of parents still don’t expect anything in return, researchers found, while the remaining 47% made their kids do some chores for their pennies.
The survey found the top-earning chores include cleaning the car, helping with shopping, hoovering, doing the laundry and helping in the garden.
And a more shocking study by Mintel found a staggering 76% of parents said their kids have no cleaning responsibilities at all.
The same study revealed some mums and dads are generally favouring a more ‘gentle ‘parenting approach – with a lack of confidence in their child’s ability to complete the task and not wanting to expose them to dangerous chemicals the top reasons.
However, experts for GoHenry, a kid banking and debit card app, argue that paying cash for chores can teach children about the value of money and how to budget effectively.
Here, Chelle and Whitney go head to head about whether kids should be working for their pennies or if pocket money is a cost that comes with raising children.
‘It’s parents’ jobs to teach kids about money’
Self-confessed former wild child-turned admin manager Chelle is mum to six-year-old River and reckons parents who dole out money for nothing are irresponsible and ruining their children’s work ethic.
“This is the reason a generation of kids think they should be paid to do absolutely nothing,” she said.
“It’s spoiling children and not teaching them about responsible money management or ‘doing their bit’.”
Tough mum Chelle says she doesn’t care if people think she’s tough or if she gets trolled online, as she believes her kids will ultimately grow up financially educated and better prepared for life.
“It’s a parent’s job to teach their children to be responsible, to help out and to manage money.
“It appals me that mums and dads are ignoring this critical financial parenting responsibility.”
Chelle’s son River started getting one pound a week when he was four in exchange for doing chores, and it is going up 50p a year.
And money can be deducted from this amount for misbehaving, too.
“If River misbehaves at school or fails to complete his homework, he gets money deducted from his pocket money.
“To earn his two pound weekly pay out River’s chore list starts as soon as he wakes up every day.”
River washes himself and tidies the bathroom before making his bed tidy and folding his clothes, and he is then responsible for washing his plate after breakfast.
“He also unloads the dishwasher after a cycle and puts everything away with or without my help.”
After school River ensures his coat and shoes are stored neatly before he has a healthy snack and does his homework.
“Only once that’s done does the lad enjoy some free time,” Chelle said.
“And after dinner he helps stack the dishwasher and tidy the kitchen.”
But according to Chelle, River is more than happy with this arrangement.
“River loves earning pocket money and will offer to do tasks not on his pocket money list to supplement his income. It helped him develop an entrepreneurial approach to money.
“I’m a single parent and I have shown my son that through hard work you can have a successful career, a nice house and buy nice things.”
Chelle believes kids who “laze around” while their parents tidy up are learning bad habits, too.
“They watch as their hardworking parents clean up after them and expect only the most expensive toys, iPhone and computer games – all for nothing,” she said.
“Children need to learn the value of money; they need to learn to take responsibility and to understand if a job isn’t done you don’t get paid.”
‘My house is a gold mine, not a coal mine’
Whitney Ainscough, 30, from Rotherham gives her kids hundreds of pounds a month and expects nothing in return.
Whitney, who until recently claimed Universal Credit, is mum to daughter Cora, 11, son Addison six and and two-year-old son Adley, who she shares with 32-year-old partner Joel Christopher, a painter.
The family lives in a £450-a-month two bedroom house.
Whitney believes parents who make their children work for their allowance are financial tyrants.
“I am shocked parents think it’s OK to present their kids with a list of chores in return for pocket money,” she said.
“Kids need to be kids and enjoy life – forcing them to work for ‘a pocket money living’ is selfish.”
Cora gets £500 a month on her own bank card every month to spend how she likes.
“I don’t tell her what to spend it on and she doesn’t have to do work around the house or, even worse, complete a chores chart on the fridge – that’s shameful parenting,” she said.
Cora uses her cash to have her acrylic nails done or buy designer shoes. At just 11, she loves getting eyelash extensions and splurging on makeup.
“I can afford her £500 monthly allowance and I don’t see a problem with letting her spend up big,” her mum said.
“I tried the ‘jobs for pay’ method and it doesn’t work, Cora never had time to do her chores. We’d have arguments about it and I just prefer my own cleaning method anyway.
“There is no point in having her do chores if I have to go around and clean up after her cleaning.
“I refuse to do battle each week with her to force her into being a ‘servant’ for me.”
Whitney says she knows people say she is spoiling her kids, but believes they don’t understand.
“Cora knows how hard I work on my social media channels to pay our bills. She plans to follow in my footsteps, and I am giving her time to be a teen and enjoy herself.”
The mum of three used to work in a local pharmacy until taking maternity leave in 2021 to have her third child, Adley now two.
Whitney received £1,153 a month in Universal Credit after finding nursery fees were too high when she returned from maternity leave after having Adley.
This included the £400 for her two-bedroom council house each month, child benefit and job seekers allowance.
“I wasn’t going to turn down cash. I am legally entitled. It’s free money!” she said.
“I learnt to live by ‘smart saving’ on benefits. If I could afford designer goodies for the kids because I budgeted carefully, I would buy them.”
Controversial mum Whitney went viral on Tik Tok after claiming “I earn normal people‘s monthly wage in one week,” when bragging about her benefits payments.
“Everything is free in life for me, I live a luxury life on benefits, and I drive a top-of-the-range car, fully paid for because it’s a benefits mobility car.”
Whitney signed off Universal credit in September last year and is now earning up to £15k a month by making content on Tik Tok and other social media platforms.
She makes her money through advertising from video views and commissions from her TikTok shop by selling items including tracksuits, cleaning products and air fryers as well as receiving collab brand fees.
“Cora’s watched me go from earning nothing and being a benefits mum to now being on track to earn more than £200k this year.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“That’s the best financial lesson I can give her.
“My house is not a coal mine – it’s a gold mine for my kids.”
Average UK pocket money
According to Statista, the average amount of pocket money given to children in 2023 was £5 a week, or £20 a month.
This has dropped since before the pandemic, with the average weekly amount being £7.70 back in 2019.
Children often earn pocket money for doing chores around the home, and in 2021, washing the car was the biggest money maker, earning kids around £3.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories