What are appropriate chores and allowance for an 8 year old urban girl?
An 8 yr old urban girl should be able to clean her room. Empty the dish washer. Clear off the table after meals. Also I would assign a once a week job such as dusting the living room or vacuuming some room. For such a list of jobs I would pay her between $5 and $10 a week depending on the depth of your pocket book. Also I would not call it an allowance but rather payment for work performed. I would have her sign a contract that would stipulate that the work must be done before payment is made and if the work is not done, there would not be payment. This teaches her more then just how to work. It teaches her that money only comes when you work for it, that if you don’t work you don’t get paid, and that written agreements leave no chance for misunderstandings.
At eight years old, I didn’t have any chores, other than making my bed and laying out what I wanted to wear to school the next day so that one of my older siblings, or mom could iron them – but I started asking if I could do things around the house. I was too short to reach the kitchen sink, so I couldn’t do the dishes, but my mom did let me vacuum the living room – only because no one was ever allowed in there and there was virtually nothing to clean. My mom taught me how to do things, so it really didn’t feel like a chore.
