Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← Citizenship
CitizenshipMoney while you grow up30 min★★ difficulty

Earning your own money

The first money you earn yourself changes how you think about every price tag. Here is how young people can earn, what the law says, and how to make it count.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand income, spending, saving and the choices involved in managing personal finances

Key learning points

  • • Earning before you are old enough for a job
  • • The law on young workers
  • • What a rate really means
  • • First-money habits

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 18 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

incomespendingsavingchoicesinvolved

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

Earning your own money

An English teaching video on this topic from Learn Bright. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand income, spending, saving and the choices involved in managing personal finances

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You can budget and know how to save towards a goal.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

earning
Getting money in exchange for work you do.
rate
How much you are paid per hour or per job.
minimum wage
The lowest hourly pay the law allows for your age.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — Ways young people earn

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 18

Learn

Earning before you are old enough for a job

Before part-time jobs, earning is small and local: pet-sitting for neighbours, washing cars, helping younger children with reading, selling outgrown things (with a parent's help on the account), or a paid job at home beyond normal chores. Agree the rate and the job before starting — 'help me clear the garage for £10' is a tiny contract, and contracts prevent arguments.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

The law on young workers

In the UK, children can do light part-time work from 13 (and younger in some performance roles with a licence), with strict limits on hours during term time. From 16 you can work more hours and are entitled to the minimum wage for your age — the rate changes each April, so check the current figure. Any employer who pays below it is breaking the law.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

Before doing a paid job for a neighbour you should...

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

In the UK, light part-time work is generally allowed from age...

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — Making it count

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

What a rate really means

If you earn £5 washing a car and it takes an hour, your rate is £5 an hour. Now every price changes meaning: the £25 hoodie is five cars. Turning prices into hours of your own work is the fastest way to know if something is worth it to you — and it works forever, at every wage you will ever earn.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

First-money habits

Earned money leaks away fastest because it feels free. Use the same split as pocket money: some now, some saved, and keep a note of what you earned and what it bought. People who track their first earnings almost always reach their savings goals; people who do not rarely remember where the money went.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

£25 hoodie, £5 per car. The hoodie costs...

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 18

Quick check

Earned money disappears fastest because...

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • Starting a job without agreeing the rate first.
  • Thinking hours limits and minimum wage do not apply to young workers — they do.
  • Treating earned money as free money because it was not expected.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Earning your own money

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. A rate is...

  2. 2. Minimum wage for your age...

  3. 3. Turning a price into hours of work tells you...

  4. 4. Good first earning options include...

  5. 5. Agreeing a job before starting is like...

  6. 6. Tracking what you earned and bought mainly helps you...

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Should the town centre have a curfew for under-16s?

After a rise in reported vandalism, Harbrook council proposed that under-16s should not be in the town centre after 9 pm without an adult. Police recorded 62 incidents last year, most between 9 pm and midnight. Shopkeepers signed a petition supporting the plan.

A youth council objected. They pointed out that most young people in town at night were going home from sports clubs or work, that the plan punishes a whole group for the acts of a few, and that the library and the bus interchange are in the town centre. They asked instead for a late bus and a youth space.

The council voted to trial the curfew for six months and to publish the crime figures at the end.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Give the strongest point on each side of the argument, using a fact from the case.
  2. Whose rights and whose responsibilities are involved here? Explain both.
  3. Write your own view on the curfew with reasons and one example.

  • Reading and response

    Reading

    Read the case in the lesson again and write what you think should happen, and why it is fair. Use one fact from the case as evidence.

    2 paragraphs (PEE)

  • Extended writing

    Writing

    Write your answer to the lesson's big question in full: the strongest point on each side, then your own view with reasons and an example.

    250–350 words

  • Reading log

    Reading

    Find one news story this week that links to this lesson. Note the headline, where you read it, and how it connects.

    1 story, 4–5 sentences

  • Two sides of the argument

    Writing

    Write the strongest point for, the strongest point against, and then your own view with a reason.

    3 paragraphs

  • Poster or leaflet plan

    Diagram

    Plan a leaflet that explains this right or responsibility to someone your age, then photograph it.

    1 planned page

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

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