Is there still value in making children do chores? For generations, it was a given—tidy your room, mow the lawn, wash the car. But as parenting styles evolve, so do the conversations around how much responsibility children should shoulder at home. Are chores character-building? Or are we putting too much pressure on young shoulders?

That’s the question the HOT 1027 Breakfast team unpacked this morning after Bunny stumbled across surprising new research claiming that household chores might actually be bad for kids’ wellbeing. Some parents, the study suggests, now view simple tasks like bed-making or car-washing as borderline cruel.

Naturally, this sparked a full-blown debate on air—with some flabbergasted reactions and a flood of calls from passionate listeners.

Parky recalled how teenage privileges—like borrowing the car—always came with conditions. “My stepdad made us sand his yacht in the middle of summer. We hated it, but we learned about effort and reward.”

Listeners chimed in with stories of their own. Colette said chores were never negotiable in her home. “We didn’t even get pocket money. But it taught me responsibility—and I passed that on to my son.”

Angus, messaging from Mauritius, shared a photo of his son sweeping the villa. “No chores, no golf!” he joked.

Jenny’s boys still mow the lawn proudly, while Matthew credited a family ‘pocket money ledger’ for teaching him basic financial skills—linking effort to reward from an early age.

Not everyone agreed. Azi voiced a different view: “I worked like a racehorse growing up. My kids? Their only chore is academics. Dirty work is for adult hands!”

And Amy added a playful note on family dynamics: “Firstborns do it all. Second children? They get away with everything.”

Whether you’re raising future CEOs with chore charts or letting kids focus solely on schoolbooks, the conversation was full of heart—and humor.