Interviews and Project Findings:
Jobs for Children and Pocket Money in Darlington

"Pocket money wasn't given, as people were too poor and couldn't afford to give children money to spend on sweets. Instead children had to get a job, maybe a paper or milk round, to be able to buy things that they wanted as and when.

A pay for a paper round ranged from one pound to one pound and fifty pence a week. For a milk round their pay was around three to four pounds a week, whereas now a paper round ranges from five pounds and a milk round ranges from fifteen pounds a week."


"When we were children we had to make our own pocket money by doing odd jobs such as paperboys and milk rounds. Our parents didn't have money to give us."


"We had to earn pocket money by doing errands, washing up, cleaning shoes etc. Part time jobs for children were paper rounds, delivering milk or working on Saturdays in Woolworth's."


"Some children in Darlington have a job, maybe a paper round or something similar, but I wondered whether all people would be happy to employ children. I asked an owner of a newsagent's who supplied papers to the area.
Q: Do you employ children to do paper rounds?
A: Yes.
Q: What do you think about children in Darlington having part time jobs?
A: l think that it is really good. It keeps them off the streets and gives them an experience of responsibility similar to the type you would find in a work place. When l was a child l couldn't be employed because the owner of the newsagent's said that children were too unreliable."


"Many children today appear to be a lot more materialistic. Many have their own mobile phones, computers, computer games etc. They have bank accounts and credit cards at a much earlier age."


"There are not a lot of good jobs available for children in Darlington. Mostly baby-sitting and paper rounds are the best ones and they are poorly paid and overworked."