Sept. 14, 2022

Should We Pay Our Kids to Clean Their Rooms?

Do your kids have chore charts? Do they help out anyhow, if not? Do they get paid an allowance? And does that allowance have anything to do with the doing of chores? We see these issues pretty differently. In this episode we discuss best solutions.

Should our kids have chore lists– and if so, should they be paid allowances for them?

If they're not getting paid to do chores, why exactly are they getting an allowance?

Do we need to have any structure around chores at all?

How old is old enough to be helpful around the house?

In this episode, we discuss:

  • Why chores set kids up for success down the road [12:52]
  • The pros of paying kids to do chores [22:33]
  • Non-monetary ways to motivate kids to do chores [26:00]


Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Gia Miller for The Washington Post On Parenting: "I pay my kids to get dressed, do homework and more. It’s the best decision I ever made."

Jennie Wallace for The Wall Street Journal: "Why Children Need Chores"

AICPA: Four in Five Americans Say Allowance Teaches Financial Responsibility: New Survey

Joe Pinsker for The Atlantic: The Way American Parents Think About Chores Is Bizarre

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic for Harvard Business Review: "Does Money Really Affect Motivation? A Review of the Research"

Fresh Take: Michaeleen Doucleff on Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans


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