Pay kids to do chores or no?

Its in the interest of the kid to help out his parents. Being extra burdensome to the people who are educating you seems like a bad idea.

On a serious note, trying to teach kids by first hand experience culminates in jumping into a pool of crocodiles to learn the danger of predators.

Edward Deci and Richard Ryan developed a branch of psychology called Self-Determination theory which stated that for task-oriented work, monetary rewards serve their purpose. More money = better performance. Of note: in any task that requires even the smallest bit of creative thought, money tended to degrade performance.

Here’s my opinion: if you want your kid to do chores, give him an allowance that is variable based on performance. If you get it right, a lower allowance will have him working harder for a bigger allowance. Likewise, a higher allowance will make him feel rewarded, and appreciated.