Pocket money for a 12 year old in New Zealand
Twelve is when the payslip grows up: the first deduction appears, and the rate is now real money by any measure.
A 12 year old in New Zealand earns
$14.37an hour
About $57.48 a week if they do 4 hours of paid jobs. That's 60% of the minimum wage in New Zealand.
Worked out from Employment New Zealand — Minimum wage rates and types, rates from 1 April 2026.
The rate at every age in New Zealand.
Pocket Wage is a straight line, one step every birthday, until it meets the real minimum wage. Here's the whole ladder in New Zealand.
- Pocket wage, paid by you
- Real minimum wage, paid by a boss
At 16, the legal minimum in New Zealand is $19.16 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 12 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.
Twelve year olds can run most household jobs end to end: the weekly shop with a list, dinner two nights a week, the lawn and edges, the whole bathroom and kitchen clean. Hour-long jobs on a weekend are normal. They are also capable of managing a small budget, which is why this is the year the locked savings slice starts.
Set the slice together. Ten percent of each payslip, locked until a date they choose, at an interest rate you set. The first time the locked balance passes what they have in their pocket is a moment most families remember.
The payslip at 12
Jobs, pay, interest, a locked savings deduction, and the balance in two parts: spendable and locked. Twelve is the first payslip that looks like a payslip.
The Jobs Board at age 12, $14.37 an hour
| Job | Standard time | Pays |
|---|---|---|
| Do the weekly shop from a list | 1 hr | $14.37 |
| Cook dinner two nights a week | 45 min | $10.78 |
| Mow the lawn and do the edges | 1 hr | $14.37 |
| Deep clean the kitchen | 40 min | $9.58 |
Example jobs and times. Family Duties, like clearing your own plate, are unpaid: belonging isn't billable.
How junior wages work in New Zealand.
New Zealand sets its minimum wage every 1 April. There is no youth rate for most workers: from sixteen, a young person on the adult minimum wage is owed the full adult rate, unless they are on the starting-out rate, which is 80% of the adult wage for their first six months.
Pocket Wage anchors on the starting-out rate at sixteen, because that is what a sixteen year old's first job legally pays, and draws a straight line back to zero. From sixteen the site shows the real rates.
There is no general minimum working age in New Zealand, but children under 16 cannot work during school hours and there are safety limits. The minimum wage applies from 16.
Source: Employment New Zealand — Minimum wage rates and types, rates from 1 April 2026.
Questions parents ask about 12 year olds.
How much pocket money should a twelve year old get?
Enough that a deduction means something. At the rate for a twelve year old and about four hours of jobs a week, the weekly figure on this page is where to start, with a slice of it locked away.
Why lock part of their money away?
Because at twelve they can understand delayed reward, and a locked balance that grows with interest teaches saving better than any lecture. They chose the date; the money is still theirs.
What jobs are worth paying a twelve year old for?
Anything you would otherwise do yourself: the shop, dinner, the lawn, a proper clean. Price each by the time it should take at their rate, and let them beat it.
What is the minimum wage for a 16 year old in New Zealand?
The starting-out rate, 80% of the adult minimum, for the first six months of a job, then the adult rate. Our 16 year old page shows the official figures.
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.