Kiwi boys paid more for household chores than girls - study

Twins Gemma and Seamus Leathley, 8, earn $8 a week each for doing chores around the home. Photo / Chris Loufte

Even in pocket money, boys make more than girls.

Putting out the rubbish, loading the dishwasher and setting the table are good pocket money earners for Kiwi kids — but a new survey has found boys get paid more for them than girls.

The gender gap starts early, according to the Cartoon Network's New Generations survey of 520 Kiwi parents and their children aged 4-14.

It found boys were paid an average of $460 in pocket money, gifts and paid work each year and girls got $396.

New Zealand children earned a total of $257 million last year — down on $312m in 2013.

The gender divide was news to Auckland parents Ashley Geddis-Leathley and Pete Leathley, who strive to keep chores and payments equal with their twins Gemma and Seamus, 8.

The are paid up to $8 a week each for a variety of jobs, including setting the table, loading the dishwasher, vacuuming the car and tidying their rooms.

"We are very aware and have been very careful to try to make everything equal," Geddis-Leathley said.

"Even when they have chosen jobs like Seamus taking out the rubbish and Gemma picking up laundry we stress it is a household job, not a boy and girl job."

The pair often work together and are paid the same amount of money — as long as the jobs are done.

Gemma said: "I like to clear the table rather than do the rubbish because Seamus does it. It is yucky and stinky."

When asked if he should be paid more for doing more of the grubby work, Seamus said: "I think I should get paid more, but only if I do a lot of it."

He also pulls his weight in the kitchen by clearing the table and emptying the dishwasher. The twins team up to clean the family car.

Auckland mum Kym Nyhoff was shocked by the pocket money gender-gap and said she based payments for Luke, 5, and Saskia, 8, on age.

Luke empties the dishwasher, sets and clears the table, tidies his room, empties and packs his bag and hangs his uniform each day. Saskia does the same, as well as the dishes and feeding her new puppy.

For that they get paid 50c per year of age so $2.50 for Luke and $4 for Saskia a week.

"I would never discriminate on gender," Nyhoff said.

"Our children have to understand equality so I can't understand how anyone of our generation would pay boys more."

Jennifer Pollard, who offers her services under the name The Kid's Coach, said pocket money chores should always be based on age and ability, not gender.

"We have a duty to make sure our children have a good ability to do all chores regardless of gender and they need to be paid the same amount for those chores," Pollard said.

"We need to think about the messages we are sending our children."

Pay equality was recently highlighted by Statistics New Zealand figures which showed the gender pay gap between men and women last year was 9.9 per cent.

Employment experts have estimated senior women executives are paid up to $8,000 less than men.