Making Allowances for Your Kids’ Dollar Values
Would you stoop to pick up a found penny? If you believe in the value of money or the possibility of luck, you would. Unless, of course, you’re a teenager. When Nuveen Investments asked 1,000 kids aged 12 to 17 to name the sum they would bother to pick up, 58 per cent said a dollar or more. Some won’t give pocket space to coins even if they’re already in hand, says Neale Godfrey, author of Money Doesn’t Crow on Trees. Many high schoolers buy lunch and throw away the change, she says. As one boy explained to her, “What am I going to do with it?”
This cavalier attitude is making some parents rethink the allowance tradition. The weekly stipend is meant to help kids learn about money, but some experts say too much cash — easily handed out in these flush times — and too few obligations can lead to a fiscally irresponsible future. Many kids have a “lack of understanding (of) how hard it is to earn money,” says Godfrey. “That is not OK."
Allowances, done right, are a way to teach children to plan ahead and choose wisely, to balance saving, spending, investing, and even philanthropy. Doing it right means deciding ahead of time how much to give and how often to give it. And it requires determining what the child’s responsibilities will be.
About 50 per cent of children between 12 and 18 get an allowance or cash from their parents, says a survey conducted in 1997 by Ohio State University for the US Labor Department. The median amount they got was $50 a week. (Teenagers in the East North Central region, which includes Ohio and Indiana, get the most — a median of $75 a week — and kids in the East South Central, including Mississippi and Alabama, are given the least, with a median of $30 a week.) Nationally speaking, about 10 million kids receive a total of around $1 billion every week.
The problem with a parental open-wallet policy, says Godfrey: “If you’re always given money, why would it have any value to you?” Earned money is spent more wisely, she says. “You're teaching them that there is not an entitlement programme in life. The way you get it is you earn it”
Godfrey thinks an allowance should be chore-based, and she divides work into two categories: citizen-of-the-household chores and work-for-pay chores. “The punishment for not doing your work-for-pay chores is you don’t get paid." Other experts, including Jayne Pearl, author of Kids and Money, believe that every family member is entitled to a small piece of the financial pie and that it shouldn’t be tied to work. Doing so “complicates things unnecessarily and imbues allowance with power struggles and control issues," says Pearl. “I think of (an allowance) as learning capital.... They have to have some money to practise with.”
For many kids, 3 is a good time to begin getting an allowance, experts say. This sounds early, but it’s then that children start understanding the notion of exchanging coins for, say, candy. Deciding how much to give can be tough. “If the parents can afford it, I have them pay their age per week,” says Godfrey. “A 3-year-old gets $3.”
Sound like a lot for a little person? Godfrey's plan takes 10 per cent off the top for charity. The remainder is divided into thirds and put into jars. The quick-cash jar “is for instant gratification.” This spend-as-they-choose money means that candy bars, Pokemon cards, and other impulse buys are no longer paid for by Mom and Dad, which causes kids to curb many impulses. Says Godfrey of her 17-year-old daughter, Kyle: “Her Starbucks bill is her own.”
The second jar is for medium-term savings, meant to be spent on medium-ticket luxuries like in-line skates or a CD player. The final jar is invested for {he long term, such as for college.
Kelly Grant, 13, thinks that is fair. An eighth grader in Greenville, S.C., Kelly and his brother, Christopher, 15, each gets $15 a week. The trade-off: “I have to walk and feed the dog, and I have to do the recyclables,” Kelly says. He spends but still saved enough to buy a Sony PlayStation.
Christopher, who has a girlfriend, spends most of what he gets; he supplements his pocket money by doing extra work, like mowing the lawn. “I'm supposed to do a load of laundry every night.” He has, he admits, a tendency to forget. “They charge my allowance sometimes," he says, “but they don’t really remember to do it.”
The Grant boys are still learning about earning and show signs of valuing money. They wouldn’t stop to pick up a dime, but both say there are coins they would rescue from the sidewalk. Says Christopher: “You can do a lot with a quarter.”
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Question Focus: Detail question - asks what the survey found about kids and money
Correct Answer: many kids don't bother to pick up small coins.
Why this is correct: This matches the survey result. If 58 per cent said a dollar or more, it means many kids do not bother with small coins like pennies or dimes.
Passage Reference: When Nuveen Investments asked 1,000 kids aged 12 to 17 to name the sum they would bother to pick up, 58 per cent said a dollar or more. Some won't give pocket space to coins even if they're already in hand, says Neale Godfrey, author of Money Doesn't Crow on Trees.
Paraphrasing: Passage: '58 per cent said a dollar or more' = Option: 'many kids don't bother to pick up small coins'
Tips: Always turn numbers into meaning. Percentages often explain ideas like many, few, or most.
Why the other options are wrong:
- few kids want one-dollar coins.: Students may notice the word dollar, but the passage says kids would pick up a dollar or more, not that they want one-dollar coins. This is a Paraphrase trap.
- some kids save coins.: Saving coins is never mentioned in the survey results. This is a Not Given trap.
- no kids want to pick up coins.: The passage says 58 per cent, not all kids. This uses extreme language and is an Extreme language trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- bother = think something is worth doing
- pocket space = room to keep money
Question Focus: Inference question - asks what Godfrey would probably agree with
Correct Answer: Children should not be given allowances.
Passage Reference: The problem with a parental open-wallet policy, says Godfrey: 'If you're always given money, why would it have any value to you?' Earned money is spent more wisely, she says.
Why this is correct: Godfrey criticises always being given money and stresses that money should be earned. This supports the idea that children should not simply be given allowances.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'always given money' = Option: 'given allowances'
Tips: For inference questions, focus on the writer's opinion words like problems, not OK, or criticised.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Children should receive allowances if they help with housework.: Godfrey talks about earning money, but the option adds housework as a condition. That detail is not stated here. This is a Partial truth trap.
- Children should be given allowances whether they help with housework.: This directly contradicts Godfrey's view that money should be earned, not just given. This is a Contradiction trap.
- Children should be paid for satisfactorily performing school work.: School work is never mentioned as something to be paid. This is a Not Given trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- open-wallet policy = parents giving money freely
- earned = received by working
Question Focus: Inference question - asks what Pearl would probably agree with
Correct Answer: Children should not be given allowances.
Passage Reference: Other experts, including Jayne Pearl, author of Kids and Money, believe that every family member is entitled to a small piece of the financial pie and that it shouldn't be tied to work.
Why this is correct: Pearl believes allowances shouldn't be tied to work, which goes against the traditional idea of allowances as payment. This supports the idea that children should not be given allowances in the usual work-based sense.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'shouldn't be tied to work' = Option: 'not be given allowances'
Tips: Be careful with opinion questions. Different experts often disagree, so match the right idea to the right person.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Children should receive allowances if they help with housework.: Pearl says it shouldn't be tied to work, so housework-based payment is the opposite. This is a Contradiction trap.
- Children should be given allowances whether they help with housework.: This sounds close, but Pearl describes allowance as learning capital, not simply giving money. This is a Partial truth trap.
- Children should be paid for satisfactorily performing school work.: School work is never mentioned by Pearl. This is a Not Given trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- entitled = having a right to
- learning capital = money used for practice
Question Focus: Detail question - asks who supports starting allowances at age three
Correct Answer: Godfrey.
Passage Reference: For many kids, 3 is a good time to begin getting an allowance, experts say. 'If the parents can afford it, I have them pay their age per week,' says Godfrey. 'A 3-year-old gets $3.'
Why this is correct: Godfrey clearly supports starting allowances at age 3 and even gives a clear example of how much.
Paraphrasing: Passage: '3 is a good time to begin' = Option: 'starting to give allowances to kids when they are three'
Tips: Names are important. When a question asks who, scan for quotation marks and reporting verbs like says.
Why the other options are wrong:
- The writer.: The writer reports expert opinions but does not personally state this view. This is a Context shift trap.
- Pearl.: Pearl is mentioned earlier but is not linked to the age of three. This is a Wrong section trap.
- Godfrey's daughter.: Her daughter is discussed later, but not in relation to starting age. This is a Wrong section trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- afford = have enough money
- begin = start
Question Focus: Detail question - asks about calculating spending based on Godfrey's plan
Correct Answer: $10.
Passage Reference: Godfrey's plan takes 10 per cent off the top for charity. The remainder is divided into thirds and put into jars. The quick-cash jar 'is for instant gratification.'
Why this is correct: Godfrey clearly says 10 per cent off the top. From $100, that is $10 before any other division.
Paraphrasing: Passage: '10 per cent off the top' = Option: '$10'
Tips: Follow processes step by step. Numbers in IELTS often test order, not just math.
Why the other options are wrong:
- $30.: This ignores the charity step and jumps to later divisions. This is a Sequence trap.
- $33.3.: This comes from dividing into thirds, but only after charity is removed. This is a Partial truth trap.
- $50.: There is no point where half the money goes to impulse buys. This is a Not Given trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- off the top = taken first
- instant gratification = immediate pleasure
Question Focus: Detail question - asks how the Grant brothers receive allowances
Correct Answer: by doing housework.
Passage Reference: The trade-off: 'I have to walk and feed the dog, and I have to do the recyclables,' Kelly says.
Why this is correct: Kelly explains clearly that he gets money in exchange for chores, which means housework.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'walk and feed the dog' = Option: 'doing housework'
Tips: Be careful with negatives. Forget to charge is not the same as forget to pay.
Why the other options are wrong:
- without having to work.: The passage lists several chores they must do. This is a Contradiction trap.
- but the money is not enough.: There is no complaint that the money is insufficient. This is a Not Given trap.
- though their parents sometimes forget to give them the money.: The parents forget to charge sometimes, not to give money. This reverses meaning. This is a Reverse meaning trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- trade-off = exchange
- recyclables = items to recycle
Question Focus: Detail question - asks about Godfrey's opinion of kids
Correct Answer: many kids don't know the value of money.
Passage Reference: Many kids have a 'lack of understanding (of) how hard it is to earn money,' says Godfrey. 'That is not OK.'
Why this is correct: Godfrey directly says kids lack understanding of earning money, which means they do not know its value.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'lack of understanding how hard it is to earn money' = Option: 'don't know the value of money'
Tips: Opinion questions often repeat strong phrases. Look for quoted opinions.
Why the other options are wrong:
- many kids appreciated the value of coins.: The passage shows the opposite attitude toward coins. This is a Contradiction trap.
- many kids know how hard it is to earn money.: Godfrey says they lack understanding, not know it. This is a Reverse meaning trap.
- many kids should be given more pocket money.: Godfrey criticises too much money being given. This is a Contradiction trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- lack = not have enough
- value = importance
Question Focus: Main idea question - asks about the writer's view on allowances
Correct Answer: could help children learn many things.
Passage Reference: Allowances, done right, are a way to teach children to plan ahead and choose wisely, to balance saving, spending, investing, and even philanthropy.
Why this is correct: The writer clearly believes allowances can teach many skills, including planning and saving.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'teach children to plan ahead and choose wisely' = Option: 'help children learn many things'
Tips: For main idea questions, look for broad statements, not examples.
Why the other options are wrong:
- should not be given to children.: The writer supports allowances when done right. This is a Contradiction trap.
- should not be given to young children.: The passage says even 3-year-olds can receive allowances. This is a Contradiction trap.
- spoil older children.: Spoiling is not the writer's conclusion. This is a Not Given trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- philanthropy = giving to charity
- balance = manage different parts
Question Focus: Detail question - asks about regional allowance amounts
Correct Answer: the East North Central region.
Passage Reference: Teenagers in the East North Central region, which includes Ohio and Indiana, get the most - a median of $75 a week - and kids in the East South Central, including Mississippi and Alabama, are given the least, with a median of $30 a week.
Why this is correct: The passage clearly says kids in the East North Central region get the most.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'get the most' = Option: 'receive the most allowances'
Tips: When regions or places are tested, match names exactly. Do not guess based on real-world knowledge.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the East South Central region.: This region gets the least, not the most. This is a Contradiction trap.
- big cities like New York or LA.: Cities are never mentioned in the data. This is a Not Given trap.
- small towns in New England.: New England is not discussed at all. This is a Not Given trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- median = middle average
- region = area
General Tips:
- MCQ questions follow passage order, so later questions come from later parts of the text.
- Always eliminate extreme options with words like all, no, or never unless the passage clearly supports them.
- Do not use real-world knowledge. Only choose answers supported by the passage.
- Read all options before choosing. The first one that sounds right may hide a trap.
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