Allowance for an 8 year old in the United States
Eight is the sweet spot. Old enough to do a proper job unsupervised, young enough to think a vacuum cleaner is exciting.
An 8 year old in the United States earns
$4.14an hour
About $10.35 a week if they do 2½ hours of paid jobs. That's 57.1% of the minimum wage in the United States.
Worked out from US Department of Labor — State Minimum Wage Laws, rates from July 24, 2009.
The rate at every age in the United States.
Pocket Wage is a straight line, one step every birthday, until it meets the real minimum wage. Here's the whole ladder in the United States.
- Pocket wage, paid by you
- Real minimum wage, paid by a boss
At 14, the legal minimum in the United States is $7.25 an hour. Pocket Wage draws a straight line from there back to zero, and a kid's age picks the spot on it.
What an 8 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.
An eight year old can vacuum the living areas, empty every bin in the house, hang out a load of washing and put the groceries away. Twenty-minute jobs are realistic. They are also old enough to read their own payslip and check your arithmetic, which you should encourage.
The big idea to land at eight is the difference between Family Duties and the Jobs Board. Clearing your plate is being part of the family. Vacuuming the lounge is a job, and jobs pay. Eight year olds find this distinction fair, which is more than most adults manage.
The payslip at 8
Jobs, pay and balance, and an optional line for interest if the parent is playing the bank. Eight is a good age to see money make money.
The Jobs Board at age 8, $4.14 an hour
| Job | Standard time | Pays |
|---|---|---|
| Vacuum the living areas | 20 min | $1.38 |
| Empty every bin in the house | 10 min | $0.69 |
| Hang out a load of washing | 15 min | $1.04 |
| Put the groceries away | 15 min | $1.04 |
Example jobs and times. Family Duties, like clearing your own plate, are unpaid: belonging isn't billable.
How junior wages work in the United States.
The United States has a federal minimum wage that has not changed since 2009, and thirty states plus DC set a higher one. The federal minimum working age for most jobs is fourteen, and a fourteen year old is owed the full minimum wage where they live, apart from a few states that permit lower youth rates.
Pocket Wage anchors on your state's minimum wage at fourteen and draws a straight line back to zero. Choose your state at the top: a five year old in California is on a very different ladder from one in Georgia, because their parents are too.
Fourteen for most non-farm work under federal law, with limits on hours during school. Some states set their own rules. The minimum wage applies from the first hour.
Source: US Department of Labor — State Minimum Wage Laws, rates from July 24, 2009.
By state
The rate for an 8 year old, worked out from each one's own minimum wage.
- Alabama$4.14
- Alaska$8.00
- Arizona$8.66
- Arkansas$6.29
- California$9.66
- Colorado$8.66
- Connecticut$9.68
- Delaware$8.57
- District of Columbia$10.51
- Florida$8.00
- Georgia$4.14
- Hawaii$9.14
- Idaho$4.14
- Illinois$8.57
- Indiana$4.14
- Iowa$4.14
- Kansas$4.14
- Kentucky$4.14
- Louisiana$4.14
- Maine$8.63
- Maryland$8.57
- Massachusetts$8.57
- Michigan$7.85
- Minnesota$6.52
- Mississippi$4.14
- Missouri$8.57
- Montana$6.20
- Nebraska$8.57
- Nevada$6.86
- New Hampshire$4.14
- New Jersey$9.10
- New Mexico$6.86
- New York$9.14
- North Carolina$4.14
- North Dakota$4.14
- Ohio$6.29
- Oklahoma$4.14
- Oregon$8.89
- Pennsylvania$4.14
- Rhode Island$9.14
- South Carolina$4.14
- South Dakota$6.77
- Tennessee$4.14
- Texas$4.14
- Utah$4.14
- Vermont$8.24
- Virginia$7.30
- Washington$9.79
- West Virginia$5.00
- Wisconsin$4.14
- Wyoming$4.14
Questions parents ask about 8 year olds.
How much pocket money should an eight year old get a week?
With a pocket wage the question changes: how many hours of paid jobs, at the rate for their age? About two and a half hours a week is a sensible amount at eight. The weekly figure on this page is what that comes to.
What jobs can an eight year old do?
Anything with a clear finish that takes up to about twenty minutes: vacuuming, bins, hanging washing, putting shopping away. The Jobs Board above prices each at their rate.
Should I pay interest on their savings?
It is a good age to start. Set a rate, pay it on payday, and let them watch the line on the payslip. Pocket Wage lets a parent be the bank without any real bank involved.
How much allowance should a kid get by age?
The old rule of a dollar per year of age per week gives a ten year old ten dollars for nothing. Pocket Wage pays a rate instead: your state's minimum wage scaled to their age, for the jobs they do.
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.