Parents Are Paying Boys Twice As Much Allowance As Girls

Parents are paying boys twice as much as girls for their chores

Chores are something every kid should be doing to learn responsibility and the value of contribution. For the lucky ones, some even get paid an allowance to do them (while others pick up dog poop for the glory — thanks, mom.). But one app recently found boys are getting paid more than girls for doing their chores — to the tune of almost double.

Data analyzed by BusyKid.com found that of the 10,000 families reviewed, parents pay boys twice as much as girls for doing their weekly chores, with boys receiving an average weekly allowance of $13.80, and girls just $6.71.

Gregg Murset, the founder of BusyKid and father of six who pays his kids “even Steven” for doing chores, said the exact reasons for this pay gap aren’t clear. “Maybe we should be doing things different. This is a great way to take an observation and change things or at least have a conversation,” Murset said on the BusyKid site. “Our platform provides that ability to provide a teachable moment not only for kids, but for parents.”

The app, which lets parents use technology to electronically manage allowances, allows kids to have their weekly wages either: Direct deposited into their own account, donated to charity, invested in the stock market, and can even issue them a prepaid debit card they can use online to buy what they want.

Parents can purchase the BusyKid app for $14.95 for a year, which in addition to the payment options above, allows kids to track their daily or weekly chores and even suggests age-appropriate chores for kids to do. The app recommends a price per chore but parents can go in and edit this to their preferences.

“Our platform is gender-agnostic,” Murset said. “But parents can decide which chores to assign to which kids, and they can change our suggested rate of pay, if they want to. That’s where the gender gap is coming in.”

Although the gender pay gap has narrowed since the 1980’s, it’s remained stable over the past 15 years, according to Pew Research Center. In 2017, women earned 82% of what men earned (and less for women of color) in the United States. “Based on this estimate, it would take an extra 47 days of work for women to earn what men did in 2017,” the research organization found.

“Boys are being given more opportunities to earn money than girls, and they are saving more of it for themselves,” Murset continued. “Girls shared more money with charities than boys, who also spent larger portions of their earnings.”

It’s not surprising the inherent differences in wages earned, but it’s eye-opening that it starts so early at home.