Benefits of chores for kids: what the studies actually show

The benefits of chores for kids are real, but more modest than most headlines claim. Studies link regular chores with better working memory, self-control and a stronger sense of competence, yet they show associations, so they cannot prove that chores cause later success. Some of the most quoted "studies" have no traceable source at all. Here is what each claim rests on, checked against the original papers.

Do kids who do chores do better later?

Often they do, and nobody fully knows why. The 2 strongest studies behind the popular claims, a large US cohort study from 2019 and a smaller Australian survey from 2022, both found that children who did more chores scored better on some measures. Neither was an experiment in which families were randomly asked to give chores, the kind of study needed to show cause and effect.

That distinction matters because the link can run in several directions. Organized children may be given more chores because they handle them well. Families with more time and stability may share chores and also support learning in other ways. Researchers adjust for some of these factors, never all of them.

Here is how the most common claims hold up:

What did the 2022 executive function study find?

Researchers at La Trobe University in Australia asked 207 parents and guardians of children aged 5 to 13 to fill in questionnaires about their child's chores and executive functions (Tepper, Howell and Bennett, 2022). Executive functions are the mental skills that help us "plan, focus attention, switch gears, and juggle tasks", in the words of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard.

The result: children who did more self-care chores, such as making themselves a meal, and more family-care chores, such as making a meal for someone else, had better parent-rated working memory and inhibition. This held after accounting for age, gender and disability. Pet-care chores showed no link.

The authors' reasoning: chores ask children to plan, self-regulate, switch between tasks and remember instructions, exactly the skills executive function covers.

The limits matter just as much. The British Psychological Society's Research Digest points out that socioeconomic status was not controlled for, that parent questionnaires agree only modestly with lab tests of executive function, and that the direction of effect is unclear. A child who already organizes themselves well may simply be trusted with more jobs, while a child who needs constant prompting may get fewer because a parent finds it faster to do the job alone.

What about the kindergarten study from 2019?

This is the study behind most "chores build confidence" headlines, and it is solid as observational research goes. A team at the University of Virginia analyzed data on 9,971 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a US cohort that entered kindergarten in 2010 to 2011 (White, DeBoer and Scharf, 2019).

Parents reported chore frequency in kindergarten. In third grade, the children rated their own competence and took reading, math and science tests.

Children who did chores more often in kindergarten rated themselves higher on social, academic and life satisfaction competence in third grade, independent of sex, family income and parent education. Children who rarely did chores had slightly greater odds of scoring in the bottom fifth on those self-ratings. Doing chores with any frequency was also associated with better math scores in third grade.

Keep 2 cautions in mind. "Slightly" is the right word: the odds ratios reported in the abstract range from 1.17 to 1.27, a modest difference. And the authors describe their result as an association, which is what a cohort study can show. Still, in a very large sample, early chores went together with children who felt more capable a few years later.

Is there really a Harvard study on chores?

Many parenting articles say that a Harvard study, usually the Grant Study of adult development that began in 1938, found that doing chores as a child is a top predictor of success. We looked for a published paper from that study reporting a chores result and could not find one. Until a primary source turns up, treat the claim as not verified.

The same goes for another widely repeated claim: an analysis attributed to a University of Minnesota researcher, said to show that children who started chores at age 3 or 4 did better as young adults. We could not locate the original publication.

What Harvard does publish on this topic is the science of executive function. Its Center on the Developing Child explains that nobody is born with these skills, but that we are "born with the potential to develop them through interactions and practice" (Center on the Developing Child). That supports the logic of chores as practice, though the guide says nothing specific about chores.

What can chores realistically build?

Set the headlines aside and chores still offer something concrete: daily, low-stakes practice of skills children need anyway. The American Academy of Pediatrics says children "need to have obligations and duties within the family, so they learn to accept responsibility", and notes that young children are "naturally eager helpers" (HealthyChildren.org).

Each job trains something specific:

• Planning: planning the school week means thinking ahead and putting steps in order.
• Working memory: loading the dishwasher means holding a few rules in mind: plates here, cups on top, knives pointing down.
• Self-control: finishing a dull job such as folding laundry before going back to play.
• Competence: a child who can make a snack or change their sheets has daily evidence that they can do real things, an idea at the heart of Montessori practical life.

A home also runs more smoothly when everyone contributes. For the skills children can learn at each stage, see our guide to life skills by age, and for a full list of jobs, our guide to age-appropriate chores.

How do you get the benefits without fights?

The AAP's practical advice fits well with what the studies suggest about practice:

1. Start small. Introduce 1 new task at a time. A long list overwhelms a child who is new to chores.
2. Make it routine. Chores at the same time each day, with clear daily and weekly expectations, turn a negotiation into a habit.
3. Make it visible. A chore chart or checklist (our chore chart maker prints one by age) works as a visual reminder and gives children a sense of accomplishment.
4. Praise effort. Praise effort and independent initiative more than perfection. The AAP calls honest praise 1 of the most effective motivators.
5. Skip the scolding. The AAP says scolding and badgering do not work. Our guide on how to stop nagging has alternatives, and when kids refuse to do chores covers calm consequences.
6. Grow the jobs. Raise expectations as your child matures (our chores by age pages show the next step), and take temperament into account.

For example, a family with a 5 and a 9 year old might give the younger child 2 self-care jobs, such as getting dressed and clearing their plate, and the older child 1 family-care job, such as helping cook dinner on weekdays. After a few weeks, each child adds 1 new task.

Kidventures can carry that routine for you: pick quests from a chore library sorted by age, give children who cannot read yet picture quests, and let them earn stars that you approve in 1 tap. Browse the chore library to start, or read our guide to raising responsible kids.

The bottom line: chores will not guarantee success, and the most famous claims are shaky. The best evidence shows that children who help at home tend to have stronger planning, self-control and confidence. That is reason enough to hand over the dish towel.