How much allowance should I give my kid?

The most-cited US baseline is $1 per year of age per week — a 10-year-old gets $10 per week. About 60% of US families using allowance apps (Greenlight, RoosterMoney) follow this. In China that maps roughly to ¥10 per year of age per week in tier-1 cities (Beijing / Shanghai / Guangzhou / Shenzhen), ¥8 in tier-2 (provincial capitals), and ¥7 in tier-3 and below. The tool then adjusts by your family income tier (low 0.8× / middle 1.0× / high 1.3×) to land on a number that feels right for your household — not someone else's.

Should I tie allowance to chores?

The research (and most parenting books) say: don't tie ALL of it. Kids should help around the house because they're part of the family, not because they're being paid — when you pay for everything, they stop helping the moment you stop paying. The healthy pattern is a base allowance for being a family member, plus optional paid "extra" chores (wash the car, organize the garage) on top. Our chore-based mode does exactly that: it adds a per-chore bonus to the base amount, not in place of it.

What is the 50/30/20 three-jar method?

A classic kids-money teaching tool popularized by Dave Ramsey: give the kid three jars (or three slots in an app). 50% goes to "Spend" for whatever they want now. 30% goes to "Save" for bigger goals (the savings sandbox in this tool shows how long until they hit one). 20% goes to "Give" — charity, church, a class fundraiser. The point is muscle memory: by the time they're 18 they've split a thousand small amounts this way and the habit is automatic. The Give jar is optional and culturally specific — toggle it off and the split becomes 60% Spend / 40% Save.

My kid is 5. Is that too young for allowance?

Most child development experts say 5–6 is a fine starting age — they can count, they can wait a week, and they understand "this much money buys this thing." Just use very small amounts (¥5–¥10 per week is plenty at age 5–6) and focus on the routine, not the dollars. The point at that age isn't the money, it's installing the habit of "money comes in, gets split, and some of it has to wait." By the time they're 10, the muscle is there for bigger amounts.

How does the savings goal sandbox work?

Plug in what your kid wants (a Lego set, a Switch game, a bike) and the amount. The tool divides by the current weekly Save-jar amount and shows exactly how many weeks until they hit it. This converts "I want it RIGHT NOW" into "I can have it in 13 weeks" — which sounds long but isn't, and gives them a concrete date to look forward to. Four preset goals (¥80 / ¥299 / ¥299 / ¥600) load common targets in one tap.

Are these numbers right for every family?

No. The numbers are a starting point based on US and Chinese baselines, not a prescription. Some families pay more because the kid covers their own lunches; some pay less because birthdays and holidays already top up; some skip allowance entirely and just say "ask when you need something." All three approaches work if the parent is consistent. The notice at the top of the tool is real: your family's economic situation and how you want to teach money come first. The tool gives you a defensible baseline to argue from, not the answer.

Settling the "everyone at school gets more" argument with a number

Your 10-year-old insists friends get 50 a week. You plug in age 10, middle income, tier-2 city and land on 80/week. Now the conversation is about a real baseline both of you can see, not who shouts louder. You show the screen, agree on 60 plus chore bonus, and the fight ends in two minutes instead of a sulky dinner.

Two parents who disagree need a neutral starting point

One parent thinks 20 a week is plenty, the other wants 100. Instead of arguing values, you both look at the tool: age 8, higher income, tier-1 gives 130, scaled down to 104. You meet in the middle at 90 and move on. The number is not the boss, but it gives you something to negotiate around instead of two gut feelings colliding at the kitchen table.

Turning a 600 bike into a savings plan instead of a tantrum

Your kid wants a 600 bike now. You open the savings sandbox: their Save jar is 24 a week, so 25 weeks. You write the date on the fridge calendar. "I want it now" becomes "I get it in late November," and the kid starts asking for extra paid chores to shorten the wait, which is exactly the lesson you wanted to land.

Starting a 6-year-old with a tiny routine, not a big number

You are not sure 6 is too young. You set age 6, lower income, tier-3 and get 7 a week. That is small enough to feel safe and big enough to split into three jars. The point is the weekly ritual, not the 7 yuan, and the tool gives you a defensible "this is normal for a six-year-old" to show skeptical grandparents.

Kids Allowance Calculator — How Much Per Week, with Chores & Savings Jars

Kids allowance calculator — age-appropriate weekly/monthly amount with chore-based breakdown, savings goal sandbox.

Runs locally
Category Calculator
Best for Getting a realistic range before a purchase, plan, workout, or schedule decision.

Numbers are guidance only — your family budget and how you want to teach money come first.

Child age

years

Family income

City tier

Teach savings (use 3 jars)Include "give" jarChore-based bonus

Suggested allowance

Per week

¥80

Per month

¥348

US reference ($1/age/week): $10.00/wk · ≈ ¥72

3-jar split

Spend

¥40

Save

¥24

Give

¥16

Savings goal sandbox

Goal amount (¥)Weekly into Save jar

¥24 / wk

Weeks to reach goal 13 weeks ≈ 3 months

Method: US baseline: $1 per year of age per week (Greenlight / RoosterMoney 2022–23). China rate by city tier × income factor. Split: 50/30/20 (Ramsey 3-jar). 100% in-browser.

What this tool does

Free kids allowance calculator that answers the question every parent eventually asks: "how much is the right amount for a kid this age?" Plug in your child's age, your family income tier, and your city tier, and the tool gives you a weekly and monthly number that's actually defensible — not a vibe. We use the "$1 per year of age per week" baseline that 60% of US families follow (Greenlight 2022 / RoosterMoney 2023 data), localized for China by city tier (¥10 / ¥8 / ¥7 per year of age per week for tier-1 / tier-2 / tier-3 cities) and adjusted by a family-income factor (0.8 / 1.0 / 1.3 for lower / middle / higher). The amount is then split into the classic three jars — Spend 50% / Save 30% / Give 20% (the Dave Ramsey method) — with a toggle to turn off the Give jar (less common in China) so the split collapses to 60% Spend / 40% Save instead. Turn on chore-based mode and the tool adds a per-chore bonus on top of the base allowance, so kids who do the dishes get a few yuan extra, separate from their guaranteed weekly amount (the research is clear: tying ALL allowance to chores backfires — kids stop helping when you don't pay). A savings-goal sandbox at the bottom lets your kid plug in a target (a Lego set, a Switch game, a bike) and see exactly how many weeks until they hit it at the current save rate — turning "I want it now" into a concrete plan. 100% in-browser, no signup, no upload, no account. Numbers are a guidance baseline; your family budget and how you want to teach money always come first.

Tool details

Input: Text + Numbers; The page exposes text boxes, numeric controls, file pickers, or structured inputs depending on the tool.
Output: Live result; The result area focuses on usable output, with copy, download, or preview actions when supported.
Privacy: Browser-side processing; The main tool logic does not call an external API, so inputs normally stay in the current tab.
Save / share: No account required; Open the page and use it; whether results survive refresh depends on the tool.
Performance budget: Initial JS <= 18 KB; No WASM budget is declared, keeping the tool quick to open on mobile.
Best fit: Calculator · Content Creator; Category and role tags drive related tools, internal links, and quick fit checks.

How to use

1. Input

Paste or drop your content into the tool panel.
2. Process

Click the button. All processing is local in your browser.
3. Copy / Download

Copy the result or download to disk in one click.

How Kids Allowance Calculator fits into your work

Use it for fast estimates, comparisons, and planning numbers before you make the final call.

Calculation jobs

Getting a realistic range before a purchase, plan, workout, or schedule decision.
Comparing scenarios by changing one input at a time.
Turning rough assumptions into a number you can discuss.

Calculation checks

Double-check units, dates, rates, and rounding assumptions.
Treat health, finance, tax, and legal outputs as planning aids, not professional advice.
Save the inputs that produced an important result so you can reproduce it later.

Good next steps

These links move the current task into a more complete workflow.

Real-world use cases

Settling the "everyone at school gets more" argument with a number
Your 10-year-old insists friends get 50 a week. You plug in age 10, middle income, tier-2 city and land on 80/week. Now the conversation is about a real baseline both of you can see, not who shouts louder. You show the screen, agree on 60 plus chore bonus, and the fight ends in two minutes instead of a sulky dinner.
Two parents who disagree need a neutral starting point
One parent thinks 20 a week is plenty, the other wants 100. Instead of arguing values, you both look at the tool: age 8, higher income, tier-1 gives 130, scaled down to 104. You meet in the middle at 90 and move on. The number is not the boss, but it gives you something to negotiate around instead of two gut feelings colliding at the kitchen table.
Turning a 600 bike into a savings plan instead of a tantrum
Your kid wants a 600 bike now. You open the savings sandbox: their Save jar is 24 a week, so 25 weeks. You write the date on the fridge calendar. "I want it now" becomes "I get it in late November," and the kid starts asking for extra paid chores to shorten the wait, which is exactly the lesson you wanted to land.
Starting a 6-year-old with a tiny routine, not a big number
You are not sure 6 is too young. You set age 6, lower income, tier-3 and get 7 a week. That is small enough to feel safe and big enough to split into three jars. The point is the weekly ritual, not the 7 yuan, and the tool gives you a defensible "this is normal for a six-year-old" to show skeptical grandparents.

Common pitfalls

Paying for every single chore so the kid stops helping the day you stop paying. Keep a base allowance for being family, add bonuses only for extra jobs like washing the car.
Picking a number from a US article without adjusting for your city and income. A 10-year-old at 10 dollars is not 10 yuan everywhere; use the tier scaling so 80 in a tier-2 city is not 130.
Skipping the Save jar and letting the kid spend 100 percent. Without a savings target a 600 bike stays a fantasy; route 30 percent to Save and the sandbox turns it into a 25-week plan.

Privacy

Everything runs in your browser. The child's age, your income tier, city tier, chore selections and savings goal never leave the page and are not sent to any server or saved to an account. Inputs are encoded into the URL so you can share or bookmark a result, which means the numbers you picked appear in that link, so do not paste it anywhere public if you treat your family's allowance amount as private.

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Kids Allowance Calculator — How Much Per Week, with Chores & Savings Jars

What this tool does

Tool details

How to use

1. Input

2. Process

3. Copy / Download

How Kids Allowance Calculator fits into your work

Calculation jobs

Calculation checks

Good next steps

Real-world use cases

Settling the "everyone at school gets more" argument with a number

Two parents who disagree need a neutral starting point

Turning a 600 bike into a savings plan instead of a tantrum

Starting a 6-year-old with a tiny routine, not a big number

Common pitfalls

Privacy

FAQ

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