How to give an allowance  1st part

One of the questions I´m often asked about giving an allowance is: should the allowance depend on doing chores at home?

So let´s begin with this frequent question.

First of all, it is important to analyze the thinking behind this question, and that is quite easy. Many parents fear that, by giving an allowance without requiring chores in exchange, they may instill in their children the idea that no effort is required to earn money in life. This concern is understandable, but it distorts the issue of giving an allowance.

To begin with, it is undeniable that in recent years, giving an allowance to one´s children is a trend that has caught on. Unfortunately, it caught on in the wrong way. It often works as a pointless and trendy habit, especially among middle-class families, and the "what fors, whys, whens, how muchs and hows" of the allowance are often overlooked. So this "allowance trend" has resulted at best, in a superfluous practice for children´s financial education and, at worst, in a complete disaster affecting several areas of child development.

The fact is that we are used to dealing with money-related matters in Brazil in a negligent, irresponsible and prejudiced way due to a lack of understanding of capitalism.  And if there is a way to highlight prejudice, it is to exaggerate its principles to the point of ridicule.

So let´s present an exaggerated scenario  showing the prejudice regarding money. All parents know that even before a child is able to brush his or her teeth alone, the dentists recommend that he or she be given a toothbrush and toothpaste to begin practicing good oral hygiene. No one in his or her right mind would be worried about giving a child a gift with this purpose. It never crosses anyone´s mind that doing so would instill in a child the idea that no effort is required to obtain anything in life. That is probably the reason why you never hear of children who, for the sole purpose of learning the value of a toothbrush, were encouraged to perform tasks at home to reciprocate for the gift.

An allowance is no different, my dear friends. Its only purpose is to contribute to the child´s financial education. In order to be consistent with our scenario, the allowance exists for children and teenagers to exercise proper financial habits. This topic is deliciously controversial and is far from being settled by this article. We´ll come back to it.