How much allowance is normal at seven?
Less than you think, and more regularly than you think. A small, fixed amount every week, paid on the same day whether the room was tidy or not, teaches more than a larger sum that depends on your mood. The amount matters less than the rule: it's theirs, they can waste it, and you don't top it up.
What's behind it
Allowance is not a wage and not a reward. It's practice money: a small amount a child can hold, lose, spend badly and learn from, while the stakes are tiny. That's why most family advisers suggest keeping it separate from chores. Chores are what you do because you live here; allowance is what you get because you're learning about money. Tie the two together and the first time a child decides the money isn't worth the dishwasher, you've lost both. A common rule of thumb in many countries is a small weekly amount in the first school years, roughly a coin or two, rising with age, and a move to monthly payment around eleven or twelve when the child can plan further ahead. Exact numbers vary with where you live and what you earn; the number that's right is the one you can pay every single week without thinking. Then the hard part for the parent: let them spend it. The sweets that are gone by Tuesday, the plastic thing that breaks on the way home. That's the lesson, and it's cheap at this price. Don't rescue, don't lecture, do talk: «How did that feel?» Around seven, a child can hold a goal for about two weeks; a jar with a picture of what they're saving for helps more than any speech.
Try this week
- Pick an amount you can pay every week without thinking and a fixed day. Say it once: «Every Saturday, this much, it's yours.»
- Play the card «Where does money come from, do you think? Let's work it out together.» at dinner this week.
- Put a jar on the shelf with a drawing of the one thing they want to save for. No comment when the first week's money goes on sweets instead.
When to get help
Money itself rarely needs a professional. Talk to someone if you notice a child taking money from the house or from other kids repeatedly, or if money talk at home ends in fear or shame every time; that's about something else, and a family counsellor can help find what.
In the app for this
- FreeThe weekly plan: homework and reading as slots with a daily check mark, points if you want them, and the chart does the reminding.
- Free · PlusPractices «Catch them being good», «One clear ask» and «The say-it-once day».
- Free · PlusQuestion cards on school and money, from «Which school rule makes sense to you, and which one is just silly?» to «Where does money come from, do you think?».
Free is free for good. Plus opens the whole map, all cards, games and practices.
Mila knows these answers, and your kids
The free family check takes five minutes. After that, Mila answers with your children's names and ages in mind, and the map gives you one thing to try this week.
Start the free family checkParents also ask
Every evening is a battle over homework. Is that normal?
Very normal, and very tiring. Most homework fights aren't about the homework. They're about a tired child, a tired parent and a task nobody chose. Change the setup, not the child.
My child cries every morning and doesn't want to go to school. Is that normal?
A few hard mornings after a holiday, a move or a new teacher are normal. Tears every morning for two weeks or more are a signal, not a phase: something at school or in the child is too much. The way through is calm mornings and a real look at what happens between the gate and the bell.
My kids fight with each other all the time. Is that normal?
Yes. Siblings fight a lot, and the ones who fight are often also the ones who play together for hours. Your job isn't to end every fight. It's to keep it fair and keep it safe.
Since the separation our child moves between two homes and is unsettled. Is that normal?
Yes. Changing homes every few days is work for a child, and the first months are the hardest: tears at the handover, a wild evening after, a baby-like clinginess that was gone. Children settle when the two homes agree on a few things, the handover is calm, and nobody has to be a messenger.