Guides
Let them earn screen time instead of taking it away
Instead of taking screen time away, let kids earn it with chores. How a base floor plus earned minutes works, and how the unlock and re-lock run on iOS.
What Apple Screen Time can and cannot do — an honest guide for parents
Where Screen Time really lives on iPhone and iPad, what iOS 15 opened up to other apps, and the things no third-party app can do — limitations included.
Should you pay kids for chores? What the research actually supports
Not for everyday chores; yes for extra jobs. The overjustification research, the hybrid model experts recommend, and how to run it at home.
Why the sticker chart stops working after three weeks — and what to put in its place
Charts fade after two or three weeks, and the usual repair — a bigger reward — is what kills them. Build on variety of reward type instead of size.
How much allowance by age — what the published figures actually say
Greenlight’s 2025 data: $6.18 a week at five, $21.47 at seventeen. Wells Fargo’s 2025 survey says $37. Both figures, what they measure, and how to run it.
How much pocket money by age — UK
gohenry’s 2026 data for 600,000 UK children: £4.30 a week at seven, £9.90 average, £18.61 at seventeen — plus what to do before a child can have a card.
An allowance app with no card, no bank link and no fees
No bank account, no card, no fees: how a virtual pocket-money pot works, what it teaches, what it does not, and when a kids’ debit card is the better tool.
A chore chart that fits the child: what to expect at 5, 8, 11 and 14
Age-appropriate chores from 4 to 18, the chores that fit each band, how to hand one over so you stop owning the reminder, and when paper beats an app.