A rising proportion of parents pay their children to do chores around the house nowadays. For example, some parents will give their kids allowances if they clean the room, do laundry, set the table, or prepare simple food for the family. People differ on whether parents should pay their kids for doing housework. Supporters say tying kids’ allowances to housework is a good way to teach kids accountability and responsibility. It also helps children learn about money and how it works. But critics of this approach say children should do routine housework for free. The reason is simple: chores are part of a family, and everyone does chores. Personally, I don’t think parents should adopt the pay-for-work view. Paying kids to help out sends the wrong massage: they are entitled to freely have everything parents provide for them while the contributions they make to the family have to be paid for. It risks creating teenagers who would worship money and who are likely to drive a hard bargain just to take out the garbage.