Job vs. Chore

There seems to be some confusion out there about what constitutes a job, and versus a chore, and why should we give money to kids for jobs that they should be doing anyway. I want to clarify my position on when kids should be paid for their jobs.



A Chore is something you do:

• because you are part of this family (or live in this house)


• even if you don't want to


• because you eat


• because you wear clothes


• because you sleep


• because you want to do fun stuff

A job is something you do:

• when your chores are done


• when you need money


• that someone else is willing to pay you to do

Obviously this definition is subjective, and can be defined in different ways by different people.

There are things that I believe that a kids should be responsible for, as soon as they are mentally and physically capable of doing it. But there are some responsibilities that I have taken on in my own quest to provide a nice home for our family. If one of my kids wants to learn how to do that task, to take it off my hands, I would gladly pay them. The only reason I don't pay someone to do them now, is that I am cheap, and I know how much house cleaners cost. Besides, I don't think they would come to my house just to vacuum rice from under my table.

So this is the first in a series about chores and jobs. I will look at each room of the house, and give examples of what would be considered a chore vs. a job. Realize that I am not an expert, I just play one on the Internet.

This is linked in with We Are THAT Family for Works for me Wednesday.