Is it fair & reasonable to assign your 10 year old kid 20 hours worth of chores per week?

That's more than some adults work in a week. On top of 40 hours a week schooling plus about 10 hours a week homework at that age, that's between 66 and 75 hours a week of work/labour before sleep and, God forbid, some time for relaxation, is allowed. That is extremely excessive and unfair, and not representative of most adult's lives, which is surely the point in all this, to prepare them for the future. I believe children should have chores certainly, but these should be second in priority to homework first of all, and be age appropriate. The thought of a 10 year old doing all that upsets me. I wonder what he's leaving for the parents to do? If your figures are correct it sounds to me like they're using him as a skivvy to permit their own laziness.

Well, let's see. If the child did an hour or hour and a half of chores every day through the week, such as helping clean the kitchen, yard, etc..., then they would accumulate 7 1/2 hours during the five day week. Now, if the father requires them to help around the house 2 to 2 1/2 hours on Saturday and Sunday with the yard or house, that makes 6 hours. Total would be around 13 hours of chores per week. I think that sounds reasonable. I do believe your estimation of 16 to 25 hours per week is overexaggerated. I see that you see them having to work, which you are not required to do, and it seems as if that is all they do.

If your going to work him that hard he should be paid a lot more than 10$. But really the 10 year old kid shouldn't be working that many hours at all. The most I could see making a kid work is an hour a day which would be about 7 hours a week. Even that is tough because kids do enough at school and should only be put to work like that on the weekends.

$5 to $10 and maybe even $20 dollars is about right. Regular weekly Household chores and such. Anything the kids are able to perform as labor. And you're doing the right thing. Giving your kids an allowance for doing work teaches them to be productive. To earn something, you must do work for it. Unlike most parents that just dish out $20 dollars each week to their kids that don't do a damn thing when the end of the week comes. When I was growing up, I never really got that same privilege from my parents, But I wish to do what you're doing with my future children :].

Some people only have kids to put them to work. I think it's sick. I know a couple who do that and when I'm on the phone with one of them they are constantly delegating chores and yelling at their kids to get them done. While they sit on their butts and neither of them even have jobs!

Kids should have a reasonable amount of chores to teach them to be responsible but that means a few per day that can be accomplished in less than an hour.

I had massive chores as a kid, I felt like a damn maid.

My kids, when I'm not working only have to empty the dishwasher every other day and keep their rooms clean. When I am working they have a chart with a total of 20 chores each (3-4 a day which can be done in 15 minutes if they don't screw around & they, like my husband and I, get weekends off), they get paid 50 cents per chore. They can trade them if they want or choose not to do them and I'll keep the money. It works very well and they're happy to do it for $$

I think that is a bit excessive. While it is important to teach responsibility to our children, it is equally important to allow them to be children. This makes for a more rounded individual. If you do not give them that, they will eventually rebel. My kids are teenagers. There chores consist of dishes (not every night), their own laundry (not mine), homework, trash, an occasional sweep or vacuum, help with the bathrooms and help with yard work (not to mention their own rooms when I am able to enforce it lol). I have 3 kids, so the work is divided amongst them. The regular chores might take 2-5 hours per week depending on how much they play while pretending to do them. I hope it helps.

I think that today kids have to work ethic because parent let them be to lazy. When I lived at home with my parents from grade 2nd to my Sr year we lived on a farm. Me, older sister, and my younger brother would get up every morning and go out and feed the animals then after school we would do it all over again. On weekends we would clean the barns and the feed cans. I did that all for $0! Now as a kid I hated it no doubt, but I believe that it has made me a stronger person. Will I make my daughter do chores like crazy? Probably not, but I will make sure that she understand work ethic and you have to work for what you want .. it is not just handed to you.

By the time I was 10 I was expected to keep my room clean, do my own laundry, do my homework, and then I had one additional chore per weekday and three on weekends.

They were usually like, clean the kids bathroom, wash some dishes, or vacuum.

That seems a little excessive. I hate it when parents muse children as employees, or worse, slaves.

I think it's a little bit much because kids need time to be kids. I have seen worse and the kid is being tough a work ethic.

I give my kids chores but I also try to balance it with their social life.

that is ignorant. Kids have plenty of time to work when they get older, let them be kids. It always amazes me when people breed so they can have slaves. I know a person who is forever making their kid do chores too.