Ways for Kids to Make Money

Kids like money because it gets them the things that they want, much like it does for everyone else, and sometimes they decide that they want to take up the responsibility of earning income on their own. Money making opportunities are a bit more limited for children, since child labor practices arent exactly legal ways for kids to make money, and many jobs require tasks and functions that are inappropriate or too difficult for kids to handle. But children can take heartthere are other ways for kids to make money while abiding the law and working at a suitable level.

One of the simplest ways for kids to make money is to receive it from their parents on a regular basis. Kids can collect allowance or they can receive payment for dutifully performing chores around the house. Kids might also perform chores for neighbors, family friends or relatives, such as mowing the lawn. Another way that kids can get money is by selling old possessions or edible goods, typically items like lemonade or cookies.

All of these methods theoretically fall within legal standards, but interestingly the practice of children selling items has come under legal fire. Many have heard of the famous vegetable stand shut down incident that took place in Clayton, California. 3 year old Sabrina Lewis and her older sister, 11 year old Katie regularly sold vegetables from their family garden at a stand on the roadside. Neighbors would purchase radishes, melons and zucchinis from them, they would make dishes from the vegetables and sometimes share the food they made with Sabrina and Katie. However, one day the girls vegetable stand was shut down by police who told them that they were running an illegal operation. The police came by to cease operations, the reason being that the girls were stopping traffic and that their business qualified as a commercial enterprise, which requires a license. Astonishingly, the mayor backed up the police on the grounds that the girls could begin selling bigger wares like eggs and chickens, whose origins he doubted the legality of.

So if you happen to live in Clayton, ways for kids to make money in the area might be limited to allowance, chores, and business that takes place away from the roadside, like garage sales, discreet bake sales and babysitting younger children, and hopefully doing chores wont become outlawed as child labor.