“We didn’t misuse the money like children these days do,” he reminiscences. “One paisa was enough for me for a week, and I sometimes saved.”
It’s a classic tussle between rebelling teens and their guardians and a perfect example for generational difference. If you ask any school teen, their primary discontent revolves around (mis) understanding and (no) freedom. In teen language, read – too many restrictions at home, no space and not enough dough as pocket money. And no matter how much the teens get, it’s never enough for them, or so say the fraught parents. Many Nepali teenagers still do not get pocket money as the meaning has it. They ask money from their parents in as and when needed basis. “I ask my parents for money when I need it. There is no regular allowance as a pocket money,” says Samhita Manandhar, 15, of Mount Valley School. This has both good and down side. The children get as much money as they want, if justifiable. But since the allowance is not fixed, they can’t have any savings.
“And they want detail records of what happened to the money.” That comes with the theory of allowance. Parents say they have a reason to be scared to allocate certain money every week for their children. “How can we be sure that they do not misuse the money?” says a parent. According to them, teens are more likely to spend their allowance in “unnecessary things and wrongdoings.” “I provide my children with things that they need and want but would not hand them cash because they might misuse excess money,” says Binita Hada, a mother of two growing children from Lagankhel.
But it’s probably never too early to learn the value of money. Learning to properly make use of the money would be a “skill for life” according to a young mom Sonam Sherpa from Ekantakuna, who says she will “do as necessary” for her six-month old son when he grows up. “If children aren’t given pocket money, they might not spend much but they will neither learn to save. In order to teach them how to save, they should be regularly provided with allowance and should be dealt with if they misuse it.”
Teenagers these days are into gadgets and gizmos more than their earning parents. The peer pressure of owning such “stuffs” from cell phones to iPods, designer clothes and shoes, accessories etc could put any guardians into an economic twister. But this could also be good. The budget planning including the allowance can be divided in accordance with the priority of the teen’s needs, wants and pocket money.
Abroad, teens are, many times, given perks for the work they do around house helping their guardians and neighbors. In Nepal, we do not have that culture. Most middle and upper class do not let their children work. And the impoverished make their children work for their daily living. That is something parents can pick up from. For example, for every room that the children clean, they get certain amount of money as perks that the teen can decide what they want to do.
It also teaches the young ones how to manage their finances carefully. Because it has been proven that when they have to start managing their own expenses with the amount they receive, they spend the money carefully. They also develop a sense of responsibility and respect for money and an understanding of how parents work hard to earn money. This helps them to prioritize the necessities and desires of life.
Children who aren’t provided with enough tend to steal money from their parents and guardians, according to a student. “Of course I would steal if I do not get enough money for my allowance,” says a 16-year old student who declines to give his name. “It’s not that I am not doing right. My parents should know that I need money since I don’t earn myself and should trust me with it too. Thank god, they have been giving me pocket money so far,” he adds.
Students say that their allowance usually gets spent in travelling, food and clothes. “I get pocket money through an ATM because my parents are in Biratnagar,” says Sadhana
Sharma, a high school graduate, living in a private hostel. “I get 5,000 rupees per month for my personal expenses which usually gets spent in clothes and lunch which is not provided by the hostel.”
Another student opines that his pocket money is spent on friends and fun. “Pocket money given to me by my parents is spent on fun activities with my friends. So I ask my brothers for personal expenses,” says Ajay Niraula, a student at NIST College studying in grade 11.
Abroad, teens are, many times, given perks for the work they do around house helping their guardians and neighbors. In Nepal, we do not have that culture. Most middle and upper class do not let their children work. And the impoverished make their children work for their daily living. That is something parents can pick up from. For example, for every room that the children clean, they get certain amount of money as perks that the teen can decide what they want to do.
In any case, the amount of allowance or pocket money has increased than what prevailed in the past. But the attitude of both the teens and parents has not changed towards pocket money. The struggle for acquiring more allowance by the teens and giving less allowance by the parents still stand strong. But with the rising inflation, low income and price hike, the parents and teens might have to strike a new deal between them, at least in the urban middle and upper middle class homes.
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