DESERVE is not the right word – deserve implies that one has earned it. Unless it is a pre-negotiated reward for excellent schoolwork or such.
Should you give an allowance, for young boys, yes. I think it’s important to learn money management. You should guide them, but let them make their own mistakes. Let them run out, if they mismanage.
I see a lot of adults who never learned that.
Our family policy has always been that once a boy turns 17, the allowance goes away, with a few exceptions. If he is devoting himself to his learning, or to a sporting team or after school activity, or to some other equally worthy endeavor, we are willing to help support him. If not, he should have some sort of a part-time job. I am also willing to pay him a fair market wage for his help around the house and yard, above and beyond his normal chores. We are always renovating the house, so there is as much paid work as a boy could want to do. Unfortunately, the current boy at home, likes his leisure and hates work, and does not mind being penniless most of the time. Not sure what to do about him, he’s a tough case, and not like most boys I have known.
But different children do have different needs. When I was in college, I worked part-time jobs, even delivering newspapers in the dormitory the first year. My mother, was wise enough to send me some money every now and then, because she knew I was not the sort of boy who would ask her for it, and she didn’t want me to work to the point where it interfered with my studies. She gauged me and acted accordingly. I pray that some day I will figure out what the current boy needs, too. I keep trying different methods, without much success.
I guess the conclusion I’m trying to get to is to gauge each boy, and act accordingly. Take into account whether he has free time to work, and bear in mind that you don’t want him to feel inferior to the other boys because he doesn’t have money for necessities, a bit of leisure activity, and an occassional reward for hard work.