Pocket money for a 14 year old in Ireland
Fourteen is a year from the real economy in most countries, and the payslip should say so.
A 14 year old in Ireland earns
€8.67an hour
About €41.18 a week if they do 4¾ hours of paid jobs. That's 61.3% of the minimum wage in Ireland.
Worked out from Workplace Relations Commission — National Minimum Wage, rates from 1 January 2026.
The rate at every age in Ireland.
Pocket Wage is a straight line, one step every birthday, until it meets the real minimum wage. Here's the whole ladder in Ireland.
- Pocket wage, paid by you
- Real minimum wage, paid by a boss
At 16, the legal minimum in Ireland is €9.91 an hour. Pocket Wage draws a straight line from there back to zero, and a kid's age picks the spot on it.
What a 14 year old can do, and what it pays.
Every paid job has a standard time: how long it should take, not how long it did. Dawdle and you earn less a minute. Get good at it and you earn more. There's no timer to game and no price to haggle.
At fourteen the jobs can be anything an adult does around the house, priced at the rate for a fourteen year old. Longer projects suit them: clearing out the garage, painting a fence, a deep clean of a whole floor. Two-hour jobs on a weekend, with a standard time set in advance, work well. In the United States and Canada this is already legal working age, and the pocket wage is the real minimum wage.
This is the year the household tax starts: a small slice of each payslip toward a family goal that everyone can see. Fourteen year olds understand tax the moment they see what it is buying.
The payslip at 14
Jobs, pay, interest, locked savings, household tax, and the balance. This is a full payslip: gross, deductions, net. By fourteen they can read every line and explain it back.
The Jobs Board at age 14, €8.67 an hour
| Job | Standard time | Pays |
|---|---|---|
| Clear out and sweep the garage | 2 hr | €17.34 |
| Paint a fence or a wall | 2 hr | €17.34 |
| Deep clean one whole floor of the house | 1 hr 30 min | €13.01 |
| Cook a full dinner and clean up | 1 hr | €8.67 |
Example jobs and times. Family Duties, like clearing your own plate, are unpaid: belonging isn't billable.
How junior wages work in Ireland.
Ireland's national minimum wage is set by the government each January on the advice of the Low Pay Commission. Workers under 18 are entitled to 70% of the adult rate, 18 year olds to 80%, and 19 year olds to 90%, with the full rate at 20.
Pocket Wage anchors on the under-18 rate at sixteen and draws a straight line back to zero. From sixteen the site shows the real statutory rates. When the rate changes each January, every age on this site moves with it.
Children can do light work from 14 during school holidays and from 15 in term time, with limits on hours. The under-18 minimum wage applies to any employed young person.
Source: Workplace Relations Commission — National Minimum Wage, rates from 1 January 2026.
Questions parents ask about 14 year olds.
How much pocket money for a fourteen year old?
At the rate for a fourteen year old, for about four and three quarter hours of jobs a week, the weekly figure on this page. In some countries this is the real legal minimum wage, not a scaled one.
What is a household tax?
A small percentage of each payslip that goes toward something the family chooses together, like a holiday. It is the first time they see money leave a payslip for a shared purpose, which is what tax is.
Can a fourteen year old get a real job?
In the US and Canada, yes, in most kinds of work. In Australia, the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, some part-time work is allowed with restrictions. The pocket wage is designed to meet the real wage when they get there.
What is the minimum wage for a 16 year old in Ireland?
70% of the adult national minimum wage, the rate for anyone under 18. It is shown on our 16 year old page from the official source, and it is the anchor for every younger age here.
Every birthday is a pay rise.
The app runs the whole thing: the Jobs Board, the standard times, a sacred weekly payday with a payslip, and Pay-Rise Day on every birthday. No cards, no stored money. The parent is the bank.