The short answer is yes.
If you earned it, a portion belongs back to God. That principle has no minimum income requirement.
But the longer answer is worth reading, because the question behind your question is usually not really about accounting. It is about whether any of this even applies when you are young, earning small amounts, and trying to figure out faith and money at the same time.
It does. Here is how to think about it.
Gross or Net? Skip the Debate for Cash Income
For adults with salaried jobs, the gross vs. net question comes up because CPP, EI, and income taxes get pulled from a paycheque before they ever see the money. People wonder: tithe on the amount before deductions, or after?
When you are earning cash for babysitting, mowing lawns, or shovelling driveways in the winter, that debate mostly disappears. Your income and your take-home are the same number. Nobody is withholding anything.
For cash income: give on what you receive. Thirty dollars for babysitting Friday night? Three dollars back to God. Seventy-five for a long Saturday of yard work? Seven dollars and fifty cents is your tithe.
This is the simplest version of the question. No math gymnastics required.
If you work a part-time job with a real employer and get a T4, the same principle applies. Give on what lands in your account, or give on your gross pay before tax. Both are defensible. The point is to give, not to find the exact number that minimizes what you owe.
What Does $5 on $50 Even Mean?
Honestly? Not much, in dollar terms. A church budget will not change because of your $3 offering.
But that is not the point.
Malachi 3:10 says to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse and test God on it. Proverbs 3:9 says to honour God with your wealth and with the firstfruits of your harvest. The firstfruits principle means the first portion, before anything else. Before you spend any of it, you return a part.
The tithe is meant to be felt. That is the whole idea.
If you earned $50 and the $5 does not register at all, that is useful information. It means the amount is not actually making you trust God with anything. If $5 from $50 does feel like something, even a little, that is better. That small pull is the posture of giving: a decision to prioritize God's portion before your own wants.
At seventeen with a summer job, the amounts are small. But the habit you build is real. Someone who learns to give off small paycheques finds it much easier to give off larger ones later. Someone who always finds a reason to delay until the income gets bigger usually finds a new reason once it does.
The discipline at $50 is the same discipline at $5,000.
Why the Numbers Question Is Usually a Heart Question
Let me put this plainly: if you are reading this article hoping mainly for a theological out, that is worth sitting with.
One of the most useful questions you can ask yourself is this: "Am I trying to reason my way out of giving to God?"
It is a warm question. But it cuts to the thing. Sometimes the accounting question ("do I have to tithe on babysitting money?") is really the heart question ("do I actually have to do this?"). Being honest about that matters.
2 Corinthians 9:7 says God loves a cheerful giver. The word Paul reaches for is cheerful. The goal is a giver who has learned to hold money loosely enough that giving it away feels like freedom. That does not happen overnight. It takes practice. Which is another way of saying: it helps to start when the amounts are small and the stakes are low.
What If Your Church Doesn't Make It Easy?
This is a practical problem with practical solutions.
Many churches have online giving now and let you give any dollar amount. Check your church's website or app. Some let you set up a recurring schedule.
If online giving is not available, an offering envelope works fine. Pick up a blank one before or after the service, write the amount, seal it, and drop it in the plate or the box near the door.
If you are not sure how to navigate this on your own, ask a parent. If they give to the church through a joint account or cheque, hand them your $5 and ask them to pass it along as part of their giving. That counts.
The logistics are not a real barrier. A bit of initiative and the money gets where it needs to go.
What Tithing Has to Do with Following Jesus
Here is the grace you need to hear: if you have been earning money for a while and have not given any of it, you are not in spiritual danger. God does not withdraw his love based on your giving record. What makes you right with God is faith in Jesus. The tithe follows from that.
How you handle money is part of how you follow Jesus. Discipleship means bringing the whole of your life, including your paycheque, into step with him. You give because you understand who you are and who everything belongs to. That is what the habit is building toward.
Every dollar you earn belongs to God. The tithe is the portion you consciously return to remind yourself of that. It is a small, weekly act of trust.
So if you have never given before, do not try to calculate what you should have given and worry about paying it back. Start now. One paycheque. Whatever you earned this week. Set the habit.
One Concrete Next Step
After your next shift or your next cash payment, take out 10% before you spend anything else.
If you earned $40, that is $4. Set it aside physically, in an envelope or a separate corner of your wallet. Then give it on Sunday.
That is it. You are not resolving a theology debate. You are making a small, faith-shaped decision that will matter more than you know.