Pocket money and allowance: what age, how much, how to teach money

Why give pocket money at all

Nothing obliges you to. But pocket money, or an allowance, is often the first money a child decides about alone, and that’s what makes it useful.

What the research says, without overselling it:

• The foundations form early. In 2013, David Whitebread and Sue Bingham of the University of Cambridge reviewed the research on how young children learn, for the UK’s Money Advice Service. By around 7, children have typically grasped several ideas that later money skills rest on, such as understanding that a coin’s value isn’t about its size. You’ll often read that “money habits are set by age 7”. That’s a shortcut. The report’s point is that the abilities behind good habits (self-control, waiting, planning) develop early.
• Doing beats being told. The same review concluded that teaching young children explicit financial facts is likely to have little effect on their behavior. What counts is lived experience and the example set by adults: choosing, waiting, saving up.
• Children see pocket money differently. For young children, pocket money feels like a sign of approval or kindness. Research cited in the review suggests they only understand it as money to manage in early adolescence.
• Talking and deciding go with stronger skills. In the OECD’s PISA 2022 financial literacy assessment, 64% of 15-year-olds said they talk to their parents weekly or monthly about their own spending decisions. They scored 12 points higher than students who never did, after accounting for background. Students who could decide for themselves what to spend their money on (83% of them) scored around 30 points higher. These are correlations, not proof of cause and effect. The US scored 505, against an average of 498 for the 14 participating OECD countries and economies; the UK didn’t take part.

What age to start

There’s no official age. Good signs: your child counts reliably, knows coins apart and has started asking for things in shops.

Until about 9 or 10, weekly works better: a month is a long time for a young child. Moving to monthly payments around secondary or middle school teaches them to plan ahead.

How much: a method that works

Averages are reassuring, but they don’t tell you what the money is for. Two children on $20 a week have very different budgets if one pays for their own lunches and the other doesn’t.

Three steps:

1. List what your child will pay for. Treats, friends’ birthday presents, outings, games, later some clothes.
2. Price those items over a week or a month. You get an amount with a reason behind it.
3. Review it once a year, on their birthday or at the start of the school year, and hand over a new spending category each time.

The figures above come from industry sources, so read them as ranges, not norms. The Rooster Money index uses the app’s own users (more than half a million Rooster Card users, March 2025 to February 2026), who aren’t a random sample of UK families. The T. Rowe Price survey polled 2,138 US parents of 8- to 14-year-olds online in January and February 2022. Among parents who gave an allowance, 35% paid $10 a week or less, 35% paid $11 to $20, 24% paid $21 to $50 and 6% paid $51 or more.

Keep it within your own budget. If you have several children, set the rules with the eldest and apply them to the others at the same age. To fit this line into the household plan, see our guide to making a monthly budget.

Fixed, or paid for chores?

Each approach has a downside.

• A fixed amount, no strings. Your child learns to manage a predictable budget. The risk: it starts to feel like an entitlement.
• Everything earned through chores. It connects effort and money. The risk: setting the table becomes a paid service, and a child with no immediate wants can simply opt out of helping.
• A mix. A fixed base to learn budgeting, plus paid jobs beyond normal chores: washing the car, clearing the garage, mowing. Whitebread and Bingham note that small paid jobs at home can make the idea of earning money concrete. Among UK Rooster Money users, mowing was the best-paid chore in 2025–26, at £3.52 a job on average.

In the US, most parents lean towards earning: 64% of those in T. Rowe Price’s 2022 survey said their child had to earn the allowance, against 16% who gave it with no conditions. Whatever you choose, avoid docking pocket money as a punishment or tying it to school grades. Mixing money with behavior muddles both messages.

Spend, save, give: the three jars

A simple method for younger children: split every payment between three jars or envelopes. The split below is a rule of thumb, not a standard; agree it with your child.

Saving means more with a specific goal: an item, a price and a date. Thirty weeks is a long time for a 10-year-old, so break it into milestones (25%, 50%, 75%) and celebrate each one. If you can, add a match: say $1 from you for every $4 saved. For Leo, that’s $1 more a week, $5 in total, and the headphones arrive in 24 weeks instead of 30. It’s a concrete way to explain interest. Goals seem to help: among Rooster Money users, around 56% of the money children saved went into pots with a specific goal. For the grown-up version, see how to save money.

First bank card and first account

Keep cash for as long as it’s useful: coins and notes you can see and count are easier to understand than numbers on a screen. When your child is ready for a card, the options differ by country.

• UK. Banks offer children’s current accounts, typically from 11. HSBC’s, for example, is for 11- to 17-year-olds, comes with a contactless debit card and has no overdraft, so children can only spend what’s in the account. A parent or guardian opens it for under-16s. Prepaid pocket money cards and apps, managed by a parent, are also available for younger children.
• US. Most banks let teens aged 13 to 17 open a checking account, usually as a joint account with a parent or another adult. U.S. Bank’s teen checking, for example, requires an adult co-owner and gives the teen their own debit card.

Before you open one, check the fees, whether overdrafts are possible, and what controls you get (spending limits, notifications, the ability to lock the card).

Tracking it as a family

The hard part isn’t giving; it’s staying consistent and remembering what’s been saved. In Binome360, a shared “Family” assistant keeps the record: each parent adds from their own phone, in a sentence. The app doesn’t hold or move real money and doesn’t connect to any bank; it keeps the log, the goals and the reminders.

Common mistakes

• Bailing them out. If your child spends it all on Monday, don’t top it up on Wednesday. Small mistakes with small sums are the lesson.
• Changing the rules every month. Consistency is what teaches.
• Constant extras. Every “just this once” weakens what pocket money teaches.
• Never talking about money. Explain why you chose the amount, what it covers, and how you make your own spending choices.

Frequently asked questions

What age should kids get pocket money or an allowance?

Around 6 or 7, once they can count and tell coins apart, is a sensible starting point. There’s no legal age. What matters is that they understand money is swapped for things and, once spent, it’s gone.

How much allowance should a 10-year-old get?

A common US rule of thumb is $1 a week per year of age, so about $10. In the UK, regular pocket money on the Rooster Money app rises from £2.69 a week at 6 to £7.95 at 17. The right amount depends on what your child is expected to pay for.

Should pocket money be tied to chores?

Basic chores are part of family life. Paying for extra jobs on top can teach what earning means. Many families combine a fixed base with paid extras.

Should I give pocket money weekly or monthly?

Weekly for younger children, for whom a month is too long. Monthly from around 11 or 12 helps them learn to spread spending out.

When can a child get a debit card?

In the UK, children’s current accounts with a debit card usually start at 11, and prepaid pocket money cards can start younger. In the US, teen checking accounts typically start at 13 with an adult co-owner.

In short

There’s no right amount of pocket money. What works is a fixed payday, a clear list of what the money covers and room for small mistakes. Start with coins and three jars, then move to monthly payments and a card in the teens. First step: this weekend, sit down with your child, list what they’ll pay for themselves, and agree the amount and the payday together.

Sources

• NatWest Rooster Money, “The Pocket Money Index 2026” (data from Rooster Card users, 1 March 2025 – 28 February 2026): roostermoney.com.
• T. Rowe Price, 14th Annual Parents, Kids & Money Survey: Detailed Results, 2022 (2,138 US parents of children aged 8–14, fielded 7 January – 3 February 2022): moneyconfidentkids.com.
• David Whitebread and Sue Bingham (University of Cambridge), Habit Formation and Learning in Young Children, Money Advice Service, May 2013: UK National Archives.
• OECD, PISA 2022 Results (Volume IV): How Financially Smart Are Students?, 2024: oecd.org.
• HSBC UK, “Children’s bank account”: hsbc.co.uk.
• U.S. Bank, “Teen checking account”: usbank.com.

Also available in Français.