Getting kids to do their chores is a battleground for every parent. But a Seattle start-up may be the cavalry for both sides. The company negotiates a partnership between the two parties online.
Look out, little piggy. Your banking days may be numbered.
Make no mistake, 8-year-old Ava Gaddis does dabble in hard currency. But these days most of her money managing happens online, through ChorePay.
Here’s how it works: Ava logs into her account, scrolls through her online list of chores, and checks off the ones she’s done. Dad then checks her work.
“She’s just cleaned her room, emptied the dishwasher, and I can say, ‘Alright, good job.’ And now I transfer the money over,” said Ava’s dad, Kelly Gaddis.
It’s a program that is as much for the kids as it is for the parents. Ava’s salary, savings and shopping all in one online stop.
“So if she wants to buy something online,she’s got her credit card right there,” said Gaddis.
But are we losing money’s physical value by making it virtual? ChorePay’s founder believes it’s just the opposite.
“It’s more about what they can do with the money, not the money itself,” said Jeremy Jacola, ChorePay’s founder and chief operating officer. “Children wanna be paid just like adults. If I do my chores and do my work and I don’t get paid because my parent didn’t make that trip to the ATM, I’m really not likely to want to show up to work on Monday.”
And payment is always negotiable. After all, growing up is hard work. On the list of Ava’s chores: checking on the chickens.
“Sometimes [the] brown and black one—she’ll scream at you when you’re trying to get an egg,” said Ava.
ChorePay is free for anyone who signs up. It just launched two months ago and is already working to form neighborhood groups and talking with schools to see how ChorePay may be helpful in managing homework.
