🫙 How much allowance for a 17-year-old?

Allowance at 17, by rule of thumb

Jars split 50/40/10. Dollars here, but the arithmetic is the same in pounds, euros or any currency.

How long to save up, from the save jar

Saving $6.80 a week (the save jar at $1 per year of age), with and without 2 cents in every dollar a week of parent-paid interest.

Try your own numbers in the savings goal calculator.

How much allowance for a 17-year-old?

At 17, pocket money has to stretch further than it did at 12. A cinema ticket, a phone top-up, a bus fare, a birthday gift for a friend, a deposit on a trip: small amounts add up. That is why the weekly figure matters less than the list it is meant to cover. Pick a number you can sustain for a term, not just a week.

A simple rule of thumb is half a dollar for every year of age. At 17 that is 8.50 a week, about 36.83 a month or 442 a year. Another rule is one dollar per year of age, which gives 17 a week, about 73.67 a month or 884 a year. A third is one and a half dollars per year, which gives 25.50 a week, about 110.50 a month or 1326 a year. These are starting points families use, not a test you pass or fail. The dollar figures work the same in any currency.

Ask two questions before you choose. What will this money cover, and what will it not cover? If you are paying for clothes, transport and phone, the lower figure may leave a 17-year-old short most weeks. If the allowance is only for fun spending and you still pay for the big items, a smaller amount can work. Write the answer down so nobody has to remember it in the middle of an argument.

What the allowance should cover

At this age, allowance commonly covers most of their own spending money: snacks, social plans, games, subscriptions, small gifts and the odd takeaway. It can also cover clothes, transport and phone. The key word is can. A family that pays the phone bill directly is not doing it wrong. A family that hands over a larger amount and expects the 17-year-old to pay the phone bill is not doing it wrong either. What goes wrong is a vague deal where both sides assume different things.

Be specific about clothes. Does the allowance cover everyday clothes only, or shoes, a coat and school clothes too? Are you splitting the cost of a big purchase, or is that a separate conversation? With transport, say whether you are covering a weekly pass, fuel money for lifts, or nothing at all. With phone costs, separate the plan from extra data, a new handset or a repair. If those are one-off family decisions, say so now.

It also helps to name the saving goals that sit outside weekly spending. At 17 those are often a car, a trip or study costs. Those goals are too large for a week's spending money, so they need their own line in the plan. You might agree that the save jar goes toward one goal at a time. That keeps the number visible and stops the money drifting into everyday spending.

Spend, save and give

A simple split is spend 50/ save 40/ give 10. It is easy to remember and it gives every part of the money a job. If you use the one dollar per year rule, the jars at 17 are spend 8.50, save 6.80 and give 1.70 a week. On the half-dollar rule they are 4.25, 3.40 and 0.85. On the one and a half rule they are 12.75, 10.20 and 2.55. The ratio can stay the same even when the amount changes.

The save jar is where the bigger goals become real. From the save jar only, 20 takes about 3 weeks, 50 about 8 weeks, 100 about 15 weeks and 250 about 37 weeks. If you choose to add a family top-up of 2 in every 100 a week to the save jar, sometimes called interest at home, the same goals take about 3, 7, 14 and 28 weeks. The top-up is optional. It can be a useful way to show how saving grows, as long as the family rule is clear and you can keep it up.

The give jar does not have to be solemn. At 17 it might be five dollars toward a friend's fundraiser, a small monthly gift, or money for a cause they choose. Let them pick. The point is that giving becomes normal, not a lecture. If money is tight, a smaller give jar is fine. Keep the habit and adjust the number.

Tying it to chores, or not

Some families keep everyday chores unpaid and pay for extra jobs. Others pay a small base allowance plus points or money for jobs. Both can work. The mistake is changing the rule from week to week, or paying for one job on Monday and refusing to pay for the same job on Friday. Pick one rule and keep it consistent.

At 17, many chores are less about earning and more about becoming an adult. A 17-year-old can keep track of their own homework, wake up with their own alarm, shop from a grocery list, manage their own weekly budget, change a light bulb, look after a younger sibling for a while, do basic home repairs and book their own appointments. Those tasks are part of living here. If you tie money to them, be clear about what is paid and what is simply expected.

If you want to link money to effort, pay for extra jobs above the baseline. Washing the car, clearing the garage, painting a fence, helping with a big clean: those are easy to define and easy to finish. A base allowance plus extra jobs can teach the link between work and pay without turning every loaded dishwasher into a negotiation. Whatever you choose, put the rule in one sentence and repeat it back to each other.

Money skills to practise at 17

At 17, the useful skill is budgeting a whole month, not just a week. Sit down once a month with the income, the fixed costs and the save goal. Income might be allowance, paid work or both. Fixed costs might be phone, transport, subscriptions or a share of a trip. Then agree what is left for spending. A monthly view makes the boring weeks visible before they arrive.

Paid work alongside allowance is worth practising. If they get a weekend job, decide whether the allowance changes. Some families reduce it, some keep it, some ask the 17-year-old to cover more of their own costs. None of those is automatically right. The important part is that the deal is talked about before the first paycheck, not after.

Bills, due dates and avoiding fees are also real at this age. Show them a bill and the date it is due. Let them set a reminder and make the payment with you nearby. Talk about what happens when a payment is late, including the charge. A bank account they manage, with you as a sounding board, is usually better practice than you doing it all for them. Ask what the plan is, then let them run it.

Keeping it simple and fair

Keep the system small enough to survive a busy month. One weekly amount, one split and one rule about chores is enough. If you add a save goal, add it in one line. If you add a family top-up, write down how it works. A note on the fridge or a shared family note is fine. The aim is a deal everyone can repeat without a meeting.

Review it at a set time, such as a birthday, the start of a school year or the start of a new job. Costs change. A phone contract ends, a bus route changes, a trip gets closer. A review is not a punishment. It is a chance to ask what is working and what is not. If the amount is too low for the agreed list, raise it or shorten the list. If it is too high for your budget, say so and change it.

Fair does not mean identical. Two 17-year-olds in the same family can have different needs, different travel costs and different earning. Explain the reason in plain words. Keep the same split if you can, because the habit matters more than the exact figure. And if the money runs out early, let the quiet week happen unless there is a safety issue. That lesson is cheaper now than later.

Questions parents ask