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How much allowance is normal?
Three ways to arrive at a number you can defend, what families typically pay by age, and why the rhythm matters more than the amount.
There’s no correct amount, which is annoying, because it’s the only question anyone actually wants answered. What there is instead: a few methods that produce a number you can explain, and a strong claim about which variable matters most.
That claim is this. A child who reliably receives £4 every Saturday learns more about money than one who receives somewhere between £5 and £15 whenever a parent remembers. Consistency beats generosity, and it isn’t close.
The honest answer: less than you think, more often
Parents tend to over-estimate the amount and under-estimate the frequency. A larger sum arriving unpredictably can’t be planned against, so it gets spent immediately — which is rational behaviour on the child’s part and teaches them nothing you were hoping to teach.
Start lower than feels generous. It is very easy to raise an allowance and genuinely difficult to cut one, and a low starting point leaves you somewhere to go when they take on more.
A child who reliably receives £4 every Saturday learns more about money than one who receives somewhere between £5 and £15 whenever a parent remembers.
Three ways to land on a number
The age method
Half their age per week, or their age per fortnight. A nine-year-old gets £4.50 a week. It’s crude, it scales automatically, and its real virtue is that it’s obviously not arbitrary — which heads off the “but why does she get more” conversation with a rule instead of a ruling.
The budget method
Work out what you currently spend on your child’s discretionary things in a typical month — snacks out, small toys, app purchases, gifts for friends’ parties — and hand that budget over. The amount stays roughly neutral for you, and the decisions move to them. This is the method that changes behaviour fastest, because they now feel every purchase you used to absorb.
The job method
Price the jobs first, then let the total fall out. Three recurring jobs at £1.50 plus a base of £5 gives about £9.50 a week if they do everything. Best for children old enough to notice the connection, and the one that makes the earned half feel real.
What families typically pay
These are broad ranges, and they move a lot with country, city and household. Use them to sanity-check a number you’ve arrived at another way, not to pick one.
| Age | Typical weekly range | Usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| 4–6 | £2–£4 | Small treats, a jar they can watch fill up |
| 7–9 | £5–£9 | Small toys, a first savings goal, sweets |
| 10–12 | £9–£15 | Outings with friends, apps, gifts they buy |
| 13–15 | £15–£30 | Social spending, some clothing, phone extras |
| 16+ | £30–£60 | A real budget — transport, clothes, going out |
Splitting the number into base and earned
Whatever total you land on, split it. A fixed base that arrives regardless teaches budgeting across time; an earned portion on top keeps the link between effort and money alive. Around two-thirds fixed is a good starting ratio, shifting toward more earned as they get older.
Arrives whatever happensSix approved jobs
The split also gives you a lever that isn’t the total. If the jobs are being ignored, raising the earned share is a more precise response than raising or cutting the whole allowance.
When to raise it
Pick a date — a birthday, or the start of a school year — and review it then, rather than whenever it’s raised. A predictable review turns “can I have more” from a negotiation you have to win into a date you can point at.
Raise it when the responsibilities genuinely grow, when what it needs to cover grows, or when prices do. Say which of the three it is; the reasoning is the lesson.
What to do when the number is wrong
You’ll get it wrong the first time. Everyone does. The signals are readable: money gone within a day of every payday and no goal ever reached usually means the amount is too low for what it’s expected to cover, or the covering expectations were never made explicit. Money accumulating untouched for months often means it’s too high to feel like a constraint, so nothing has to be chosen between.
Adjust at the next review rather than mid-stream, and tell them why. An allowance that changes for stated reasons on stated dates is itself a lesson about how money works in the actual world.