PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--It’s been quite the first year at BusyKid. In just its first year, the chores and allowance app which helps kids prepare for financial decisions in the real world, has seen kids complete over one million chores and earn about $1.3 million in allowance.
While generation after generation have faced many of the same challenges when it comes to raising children, it appears as if there has never been a more critical time than now in the development process to teach kids about a strong work ethic and managing money.
BusyKid is the first chore/allowance app where children can earn, save, share, spend, and invest real money wisely. The just released BusyKid app is available for free download in the Apple and Google Play stores and the timing couldn’t be better. The new BusyKid app is a complete redesign of the original platform and features an enhanced calendar, chore tracking, parent dashboard and push notifications instead of relying on text messages.
Studies continue to show that millions of Americans have no savings, are weighted down with huge debt and fail to take advantage of a mostly-positive stock market. These issues stem a great deal from the lack of financial education in the U.S., but BusyKid has been designed to provide real “life lessons” through hands-on experience earning, saving, sharing, spending, and investing real allowance each week.
“I’m not sure if there has ever been a more critical time for financial education,” said BusyKid Co-Founder/CEO Gregg Murset. “It’s not just about counting pennies or having dollars in the wallet anymore. Technology has made money invisible, and handling it remotely can be confusing for anyone, especially children. For the majority of our kids, schools will never teach them the important financial lessons they need to navigate adulthood, so they make it up as they go. This is why it’s critically important for parents to jump in as soon as possible to make sure they’re ready.”
Chores and allowance have been linked together as long as peanut butter and jelly. However, many parents view chores and allowance in varying ways. Some feel their kids work hard enough between school and extracurricular activities, so they don’t give their kids chores. Others expect their kids to help out around the house simply as a member of the family who needs to contribute. BusyKid takes a new approach, framing chores as the first job for the child with parents as the employer.
“When it’s time for your child to get a job, how will they know how to act, perform or meet expectations if they’ve never done it before,” added Murset. “We want to end the chore/allowance debate by changing the way they have been traditionally considered. Think of chores as the first job, the allowance as the paycheck and the parent as the employer. Then it all becomes a training ground for our kids who will need to face thousands of financial decisions in their lives.”
More About BusyKid
BusyKid features pre-loaded chores based on children’s ages that parents can customize as needed. Kids easily log into their account, review their tasks and mark them off when completed. Kids receive allowance every Friday (Payday) after parents check the work to verify that it was completed and approve a notification on the phone to ok the transfer of funds. After getting paid, children can save some money, donate some and use the rest to get cash, buy shares of real stock or make purchases by using the BusyKid VISA Prepaid Spend Card. BusyKid is only $24.99 a year for an entire family and is available via Apple Store and Google Play. For more information about BusyKid, visit http://www.busykid.com.
