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There is an ongoing debate among parents as to whether or not children should be told about household finances. Several questions arise such as: At what age should children be informed about the household budget? Should children be included in a family budgeting discussion? While many parents have been pondering these questions, there is one underlying theme; don’t let your debt worry your child.

With the economic downturn casting a burden on most families, there are obvious concerns how children will react to overheard conversations between moms and dads who are struggling to pay their debts.

While some parents feel it is important to discuss family finances, age appropriate of course, others include their children in family budget meetings. However, the one aspect of finance that some parents will not divulge to their children is their take-home pay.

Many have cited their own circumstances as children. While many have said that their parents never discussed finances or debts with them, others felt that perhaps it may have been better to disclose at least some information. They asserted that listening to their parents argue over money made them feel they were the cause as well as the result of the family debt.

Conversely, one parent stated that her and her husband held weekly budget meetings including the children. She offered an instance when she took her daughter to the supermarket and when the daughter asked if she could buy a certain item, the mother told her it wasn’t in the family budget.

So how much do you tell children? Certainly, you want to teach children the importance of saving and how to appropriately spend money. Some parents who have spoken to children about the family debt waited until the child was in college. Others talked to their children when they were ten years of age by explaining that the reason the family was in debt was due to overspending. Still others decided to tell their children how much debt they were in by showing them bills and explaining how the cost of running a household caused the debt.

Perhaps this is too much information to give to a child. When we were growing up, we didn’t have any inkling as to the cost of running a household. We had no concept of paying bills or having to pay off debts. All we knew was that mom and dad worked and, from time to time, a new washing machine or a new refrigerator would suddenly appear. There was money available for school books, clothes, and whatever we needed – to a point.

Children today are often more intuitive. They can sense when something is wrong in the household, especially when it comes to finances. They hear the arguing late at night and wonder if it’s their fault mommy and daddy are fighting.

It seems that today, as parents are struggling to make ends meet, some form of discussion should begin so that children can understand that (1) they are not to blame for any problems that arise; (2) that even though mom and dad owe money, they are working hard to pay the bills; and (3) parents should allow children to be children and not saddle them with the burden or the worry that somehow the debt is due to their existence.