Do SouthCoast Kids Still Get a Weekly Allowance?

Back in the day when indentured servitude was still tolerated, if not encouraged, your humble correspondent pushed a lawn mower through what seemed to be acres of grasslands in our backyard for the few measly bucks my old man would toss my way each week.

Hauling out the trash cans and the occasional dishwashing detail was often among my duty chores as well. It was called my "allowance." Dad would fork over $5 a week to fund my social activities, which were fairly limited at 10 and 12 years old. Five whole bucks a week.

I suppose that wasn't bad for a pre-teen in 1970, although some kids I knew were hauling in upwards of 15 clams for doing much less. It's not as though I had to milk the cows and feed the hogs each day before school.

I had a fairly easy life.

My allowance generally funded a Saturday SRTA bus ride from the North End of New Bedford into downtown. My weekly sojourn usually included stops at Saltmarsh for a new 45 RPM, perhaps a banana split at Kresge's, and a film at the Olympia Theater or a double feature at the Capitol Theater on Acushnet Avenue.

Do kids still get an allowance these days?

I have no specific memories of my kids doing "chores" to earn a weekly allowance, but, rather I seem to recall funding them on an as-needed basis. I also seem to remember it being easier to just do something myself rather than reason with kids to get it done.

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Apparently, some parents do still issue a weekly stipend to their offspring. There are a number of websites ready to offer advice on how much to pay them and what to make them do to "earn" the money. Scholastic.com recommends "50 cents to a dollar for every year of age, on a weekly basis." A 10-year-old would receive between $5 and $10 dollars. The site also suggests giving raises as age and responsibilities increase.

Investopedia reported that "Seventy-five percent of parents say they pay their child an allowance," according to T. Rowe Price's 13th Annual Parents, Kids and Money Survey. "The mean weekly allowance amount is $19.30," it reported.

The site offers a breakdown of what parents are paying their kids. Positive Parenting Solutions.com suggested an allowance should be used as a training tool and not as a reward for services rendered.

I'll let you be the judge.

Did you receive an allowance as a child? How much did you get, and did you actually have to earn it?

Do you give your kids a weekly allowance, and what did do they do to earn it?