Dole out or not

From familyeducation.com

Take out the papers and the trash!
Or you won't get no spending cash...

Remember that old ditty from the Fab Fifties? Half a century later, it's the ''home rule'' in many households.

''As they get older, I'm drawing a clearer link between chores and allowance,'' says Beryl H., mother of nine-year-old Ari and seven-year-old Molly. ''They need to make their beds, put their clothes in the laundry, and take their dishes off the table. They get allowance for participating in the family. We're not just doling out money.''

Beryl and husband David pay extra for additional jobs done, like shoveling snow. Ari has his own savings account, and his parents match what he saves, which has proven to be a big incentive. Molly ''wants every piece of plastic jewelry she sees,'' notes her mom, so to curb impulse buys, she's required to wait a few days to see if she still really wants a particular item.

It all seems to work pretty well, but like everything else in family life these days, questions surrounding allowance have become more complicated. We asked Jayne Pearl, author of Kids & Money: Giving Them the Savvy to Succeed Financially, to answer parents' questions.

Questions and Answers

Q. My kids don't get an allowance. Should they?
A. Absolutely. Today a lot of kids are ''on the dole.'' Parents reach into their pockets, or choose not to, when kids ask for something. The problem with that is there's no real accountability. For one thing, parents don't have a clue what kids are spending, and they're missing a great opportunity.

Q. How much should kids get?
A. I like to put as much control in kids' hands as possible. Have them pay for school lunches, church offerings, and birthday presents. Keep track of what you spend on their needs and desires over a couple of weeks, and then come up with a reasonable figure to base their allowance on. Tell kids, ''You're in charge and you have to make this money last.'' By age seven or eight, they're ready to start with savings incentives, learning tradeoffs, and delayed gratification.


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