Pocket money for a 15 year old in Ireland
Fifteen is where the family rate meets the real one in much of the world. Every birthday since five has been leading here.
A 15 year old in Ireland earns
€9.29an hour
About €46.45 a week if they do 5 hours of paid jobs. That's 65.7% 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 15 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.
A fifteen year old can do any job in the house at the standard an adult would, and in Australia and New Zealand is now owed a real junior wage by any employer. The pocket wage at fifteen is that wage, or the last step below it, depending on the country. Whatever they do at home should be priced the same way a boss would price it: by the hour, at the legal rate, for the time it should take.
Use this year to make the payslip look exactly like the one they will get from a first employer: gross pay, deductions, net, year to date. When the first real payslip arrives, it should be boring.
The payslip at 15
A complete payslip: gross, interest, locked savings, household tax, net, year to date. The same shape as a real one, because a real one is next.
The Jobs Board at age 15, €9.29 an hour
| Job | Standard time | Pays |
|---|---|---|
| Run the whole house for a day while parents are out | 3 hr | €27.87 |
| Full garden maintenance | 2 hr | €18.58 |
| Wash, vacuum and detail the car | 1 hr 30 min | €13.93 |
| Cook and clean up dinner all week | 4 hr | €37.16 |
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 15 year olds.
How much should a fifteen year old earn at home?
The rate on this page, which in several countries is the actual legal minimum for their age. For about five hours a week of jobs, the weekly figure is what a first casual job would pay for the same hours.
Should they get a real job instead?
Both. A first job is a promotion from the Jobs Board, not a replacement for it. If they take one, keep the pocket wage running for the jobs at home they still do.
What is the Allowance Cliff?
The jump from flat pocket money to hours, rates and a payslip, all in the same week a kid starts work. A pocket wage replaces the cliff with a staircase, one step a birthday, and fifteen is near the top.
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.