For Parents

Kids Allowance Survey for Parents

Find out how much allowance other parents are giving their kids, if they tie it to chores, and much more.

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Allowances can be a tough to figure out as a parent. They are an important part of building strong money habits with your kids at an early age, but every single parent seems to give allowances in a different way. Over the years, we’ve surveyed thousands of parents across the country to get their insights on burning topics like: whether or not to give an allowance, how much to give, and how to manage allowances with your kids.

Below are all of our survey results, some interesting insights, and a few third-party allowance statistics to give you the tools you need to establish a great allowance program with your kids. Also be sure to read our guide on how to give an allowance and please let us know if you have any questions!

The Survey


The Results

  • 74% give allowances
  • 66% of those that give allowances tie them to chores
  • 54% of those that give allowances require their kids to save a portion
  • 59% are satisfied with their current allowance system
  • 51% received an allowance as a child

Here are the weekly allowance averages from thousands of How Much Allowance survey responses:

Age All Boys Girls
3 3.20 3.03 3.38
4 2.85 2.48 3.29
5 3.15 3.03 3.27
6 3.85 3.32 3.99
7 4.10 4.12 4.07
8 4.32 4.45 4.12
9 5.52 5.33 5.71
10 7.18 6.56 7.83
11 7.92 6.80 9.07
12 9.58 9.38 9.85
13 9.52 9.95 9.10
14 13.47 13.50 13.51
15 15.57 16.65 14.38
16 17.84 15.79 19.62
17 30.66 27.65 35.61
18 40.10 70.57 24.86

Here’s some other interesting observations:

  • The most common weekly allowance amounts is $5.00 for 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 year old boys; as well as for 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 year old girls.
  • Many parents pay all their kids the same amount regardless of age.
  • Some parents pay their kids allowances through the early 20’s.
  • The oldest person reported to receive an allowance is a 32 year old and the youngest is a 1 year old.

Here’s how Kids’ Money parents are responding to those Allowance Survey questions:

Do you give your children allowances?
Yes – 87%; No – 13%

Are you satisfied with your current allowance system or the lack of one?
Yes – 70%; No – 30%

Did you receive an allowance as a child?
Yes – 52%; No – 48%

Are you a single parent?
Yes – 18%; No – 82%

How frequently do you give allowances?
Weekly – 74%, Every Two Weeks – 12%, Monthly – 10%, Other – 4%

Do you tie allowances to chores?
Yes – 62%; No – 38%

If you do, what happens when chores are not done?
Give full allowance – 16%; Reduce amount given – 50%; Give no allowance – 34%

Do you make your children save a portion of their allowance?
Yes – 51%; No – 49%

Do you allow them to borrow against future allowances?
Yes – 37%; No – 63%

How do you come up with the allowance amount?
We ran all responses through a text analysis tool to find commonalities in parents’ answers. Here are some of the most common responses and themes.

  • $1 per year of age – This theme occurred in over 10% of responses to this question.
  • Each chore has a dollar value – This theme occurred in over 5% of responses, tying allowance to chores.
  • “Seemed like a reasonable amount” – Allowances are often a guessing game for many parents, which is apparent in our survey results.
  • “Report card” – Some parents choose to tie allowance to academic performance, which can create a lot of pressure and negative feelings towards money.

Other Studies and Statistics