Mother Charges Her 5-Year-Old Daughter Rent

Parents want to teach their children everything they need to know about the world. They may wonder how to get their children to eat vegetables, put away their toys, and treat other children kindly. One mother made teaching her child the value of money a top priority.

Essence Evans told her 5-year-old daughter that she had to pay rent. Evans gives her daughter a weekly allowance of $7 (about 7,400 won). However, she explained that adults spend a lot of money on various fees and taxes and taught her daughter to pay $5 (about 5,300 won) in rent each week. That consists of $1 each for rent, water, electricity, TV service, and food. Evans told her daughter that she could do whatever she wanted with the money left over.

Experts advised that this is a good way to help children develop the habit of saving money and learn responsibility. When children grow up and have to pay taxes themselves, those who received financial education early will know how to allocate and save their money.

Evans said she deposits the $5 she receives as rent into a bank account in her daughter's name and will give the money to her when she turns 18. "Saving $5 at a time like this will add up to $3,380 (about 3.6 million won) by the time my daughter is old enough to live independently," she wrote on Facebook. Similar strategies include giving children an allowance after they help with household chores or not automatically buying them everything they want.