What would I call the monthly money I give to my parents?

Question

Every month, I give a good amount of money via bank transfer to my Mom (ideally so she can spend it on things she wants. What she does with it is none of my concern).

What should I call it? Pocket money seems like a small amount given to a child.

Answer 1

You could call this an "allowance". This is more often used for a regular payment to an older child, but it could be used as "John sends his parents an allowance of £100 per month to cover their winter fuel costs."

A particular payment could be called an "remittance" "John's remittance of £1000 on the second of May, was so that his parents could go on a cruise holiday". "Remittance" is very often used for payments made by people living in the UK or USA to family living overseas. "I make a regular remittance to my mother for her to buy things she wants."

But in normal and general speech or writing you wouldn't need to use a specific noun for this. "I give my parents £500 a month from my salary". You don't need to use a word like "pocket money" or "allowance" in many situations. The general term for money given without expectation of anything in return is a "gift".

Answer 2

You could call such a payment a "stipend", which is a fixed recurring payment like an allowance or small salary. A stipend is most typically a relatively modest sum intended to meet various needs, like a student worker who gets paid by the university to defray their education or living costs.

A stipend usually connotes an element of need, so it might be a better term for an allowance spent on food or rent than for a large payment freely spent as luxury spending money. It is also usually a formalized arrangement akin to a salary, rather than something that could be more ad hoc or subject to change like an allowance.

Depending on the size and nature of the payment, "stipend" may or may not be an appropriate descriptor. It could fit well if you've needed to assume control of your parents finances and limit their spending by allocating a monthly budgetary sum, but would not fit well if you're lavishing lots of extra spending money on them at irregular intervals.

Answer 3

The term regular gift seems appropriate. You could call it support if the money was needed for essentials (e.g. rent, fuel, food, etc.).

Answer 4

"Monetary support" is both accurate and neutral in the sense that it don't imply any particular age range.

Answer 5

It's not a description of the money itself, but the act is often described as sending money home—particularly if the speaker lives remotely from their parents. So you might say, “Now that I have a good job, I send money home to my mother every month.”

You can also mention a specific amount, as in this example from actual use:

“When things are good, I can send $500 home,” Andrew said, “but I try to send at least $250 a month.”

— Living Hour-to-Hour: The New Reality of Retail Work

As for the money, if you described it as money sent home or money I send home, I think it would be pretty clear to most speakers what you mean.

Answer 6

In the UK, in Scotland in particular, money given to parents by a grown-up child still staying in their parental home is referred to as "keep". As in, "I pay fifty pounds a week towards my keep."

Answer 7

"Pocket money" does not imply that it is for a child, but it does connote a small amount given irregularly that is intended for frivolous things.

"Allowance" is a regular payment, but it is usually used with children. In any event, it implies a power dynamic such that you are 'allowing' them to have this money and they are in a dependent relationship with you. Its meaning is softened if you specify what it is for; "I give my mom a housing allowance because rents are so expensive in the old neighborhood."

If you wish to emphasize that they have earned the payment or are deserving of it based on their previous lives and actions, you could use 'stipend' or 'pension'.

Stipend

a particular amount of money that is paid regularly to someone

Pension

a fixed sum paid regularly to a person: (c): one paid under given conditions to a person following retirement from service or to surviving dependents

"Stipend" emphasizes the regularity of the payment and can be used for working students and retirees; the emphasis is that the person is worthy of receiving it (rather than, like allowance, the giver is indulging them). A "pension" is given to a retiree in return for their lifetime of work. Usually a pension is given by a government or private insurance company rather than a relative, but if you say "I give my Mother a pension" the meaning will be clear enough.

If your mother has another source of fixed income but you wish to emphasize that it is not enough for her to live as well as she should, you could use "supplement" as a verb. "I supplement my Mother's pension because the government payments are not enough."

Answer 8

If your parents own the house where you live (regardless of whether they also live there or not), then you can call it rent, even if the payment is not purely intended as compensation for such but also for other things.

Some people dislike using this term when applying from child to parent, especially in the same house -- another alternative term in more common use for that case is board.

Other answers have better terms for cases other than this.

Answer 9

All the answers were great but I would like to offer another perspective. I would call it "gratitude" money.

It is a very nice way of expressing what you are doing and it is actually what they truly are according to my understanding.

I think it sounds very nice and I find it very difficult for someone to interpret through a bad prism.