Kids' allowances: When did they begin in U.S.?
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From: Lenona on 16 Jan 2010 11:36 In Sterling North's "Rascal," he tells of how no kid in his 1918 Wisconsin town had an allowance, and he considered himself lucky to keep the money he earned doing chores for neighbors! More later, but I wanted to ask: Does anyone know when no-strings allowances became common? Lenona.
From: Dave C. on 15 Jan 2010 22:55 On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:36:52 -0800 (PST) Lenona <lenona321(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > In Sterling North's "Rascal," he tells of how no kid in his 1918 > Wisconsin town had an allowance, and he considered himself lucky to > keep the money he earned doing chores for neighbors! > > More later, but I wanted to ask: Does anyone know when no-strings > allowances became common? > > Lenona. When did common sense become uncommon? You'll find the two dates coincide. -Dave
From: Michael Black on 16 Jan 2010 18:00 On Sat, 16 Jan 2010, Dave C. wrote: > On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:36:52 -0800 (PST) > Lenona <lenona321(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > >> In Sterling North's "Rascal," he tells of how no kid in his 1918 >> Wisconsin town had an allowance, and he considered himself lucky to >> keep the money he earned doing chores for neighbors! >> >> More later, but I wanted to ask: Does anyone know when no-strings >> allowances became common? >> >> Lenona. > > When did common sense become uncommon? You'll find the two dates > coincide. -Dave > Well no. One reason for having allowances (and no, I don't know when they started happening, or when they became common) is that it teaches the child about money. They get some money they can spend, they choose what to spend it on, but have to live with the results. If they want something more expensive, then they have to deal with that, saving up (all of their weekly allowance if they want it fast, a percentage of their weekly allowance if they can live with getting the item slower). It can cause them to get their first bank account (and if you did that early enough, the concept of "interest"). It helps them to learn about money, and it gives them a certain independence. Otherwise, they are just asking the parents for this and that, and certainly aren't paying attention to what they are spending. Michael
From: Marsha on 16 Jan 2010 18:51 On 1/16/2010 6:00 PM, Michael Black wrote: > On Sat, 16 Jan 2010, Dave C. wrote: > >> On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:36:52 -0800 (PST) >> Lenona <lenona321(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> >>> In Sterling North's "Rascal," he tells of how no kid in his 1918 >>> Wisconsin town had an allowance, and he considered himself lucky to >>> keep the money he earned doing chores for neighbors! >>> >>> More later, but I wanted to ask: Does anyone know when no-strings >>> allowances became common? >>> >>> Lenona. >> >> When did common sense become uncommon? You'll find the two dates >> coincide. -Dave >> > Well no. One reason for having allowances (and no, I don't know when > they started happening, or when they became common) is that it teaches > the child about money. > > They get some money they can spend, they choose what to spend it on, but > have to live with the results. If they want something more expensive, > then they have to deal with that, saving up (all of their weekly > allowance if they want it fast, a percentage of their weekly allowance > if they can live with getting the item slower). It can cause them to get > their first bank account (and if you did that early enough, the concept > of "interest"). It helps them to learn about money, and it gives them a > certain independence. > > Otherwise, they are just asking the parents for this and that, and > certainly aren't paying attention to what they are spending. > > Michael > If a child wants to learn about money, he/she can do extra chores to earn it. That would truly teach them about money. Giving them free handouts every week, without doing anything for it, just teaches them that welfare is a good thing. Marsha
From: Michael Black on 17 Jan 2010 10:12
On Sun, 17 Jan 2010, Balvenieman wrote: > Michael Black <et472(a)ncf.ca> wrote: > >> Well no. One reason for having allowances (and no, I don't know when they >> started happening, or when they became common) is that it teaches the >> child about money. >> snip< >> It helps them to learn about money, and it gives them a >> certain independence. > Not hardly. Sounds nice but the delivery of free (unearned) money > is no more effective in teaching youngsters "about money" than it has > been for the entire dependant entitlement class that you're now helping > support, if you have a job. What gives money its subjective relative > value is whatever a person has to do to get it. IMO, step one of "to > learn about money" is to _earn_ it. IME, pre-school ages is not too > early to start. > So they just run to their parents every time they want something. That gives them an unlimited supply of stuff, they don't have to worry about it they don't have to be concerned about whether to buy this or that, or to wait while they save for something. The alternative to an allowance usually isn't "getting paid for work" but just getting things as demanded. Michael |