Search "how much pocket money by age" and you'll get a hundred different numbers. Here's the honest answer most guides skip: the amount barely matters. What the money teaches is everything.
Below is a straightforward age-by-age guide — a sensible starting range and, more importantly, the capability to focus on at each stage. Because the real goal isn't a tidy weekly transaction. It's a young adult who can handle money, and life, when they leave home.
Pocket money by age (a starting guide)
A widely-used Australian rule of thumb is roughly $1 per week for each year of age. It's a starting point, not gospel — adjust for your household, your budget, and what the money is expected to cover.
| Age | Starting range / week | What to actually build |
|---|---|---|
| 4–5 | $2–$5 | Money is exchanged for things. Waiting a little to buy something. |
| 6–8 | $5–$8 | Saving toward a goal. The first "save / spend" split. |
| 9–11 | $8–$12 | Earning through real jobs. Making trade-offs. Regret and patience. |
| 12–14 | $12–$18 | Budgeting across weeks. Giving. The idea of investing, not just saving. |
| 15–17 | $18–$30+ | Real independence: managing their own money, mistakes and all. |
Two kids can get the exact same $10 a week and grow up completely differently — because one is just handed it, and the other learns to earn it, split it, wait for it, and decide what it's for. The number on the table is the least important column.
Should pocket money be tied to chores?
This is the argument every parent has. "If I pay them for everything, won't they expect money to lift a finger?" It's a fair worry — and the answer is a blend:
- Family jobs — the everyday stuff kids do simply because they live here. Making their bed, clearing their plate, tidying up. No payment. This is where they learn to contribute.
- Paid jobs — real work above and beyond, attached to real money. Washing the car, mowing, a big tidy-out. This is where they learn effort creates income.
Do both, keep them clearly separate, and your child learns the single most useful distinction in adult life: the difference between contributing and earning. (This is exactly how earnt splits "Family Jobs" from paid jobs — so you don't have to referee it in your head.)
What to teach at each age
Ages 4–8: money is real
Keep it physical and simple. A clear jar beats an app at this age. The lesson is just: money is exchanged for things, and if you want the bigger thing, you wait. Introduce a "save" jar and a "spend" jar and let them feel the pull between them.
Ages 9–11: earning and trade-offs
Now they can handle earning through real jobs and the sting of a trade-off — "if I buy this now, I can't get that later." This is the golden window for building work ethic and patience. Let them make small money mistakes while the stakes are $8, not $8,000.
Ages 12–14: budgeting, giving, investing
Expand from two jars to four: Save, Spend, Give, Invest. This is the age to plant the idea that money can grow — that $5 invested isn't $5 spent-later, it's the seed of more. A simple pocket money calculator that shows what small amounts become over time does more here than any lecture.
Ages 15–17: real independence
Step back. Hand over more responsibility than feels comfortable. Let them manage a bigger amount across a longer stretch and own the outcome. Your job now is to be the safety net they rarely need, not the manager they always do.
See what kind of capable kid you're raising
A free 3-minute Capability Score across the 6 areas that decide whether a kid is ready for the real world — and exactly where to focus next.
Start 7 days free →The question behind the question
Nobody actually lies awake wondering whether it should be $9 or $11 a week. What they're really asking is: "Am I raising someone who'll be okay out there?"
That's the one worth answering. Pocket money is just one of the everyday tools that gets you there — alongside the jobs you hand back, the goals they save for, and the small responsibilities you stop doing for them. Get the system right and the exact dollar figure sorts itself out.
That's what we built earnt to do: turn ordinary weeks — chores, pocket money, saving, giving — into thousands of small reps that quietly build a capable adult. And it shows you the progress with a living Capability Score, so you can actually watch it happen.