Board and Lodge Problem with a twist

mountainofdebt

I know there's been many a thread about adult children paying their parents board and lodge so I'm wondering if you can offer pearls of wisdom to me!

Junior wants to go into the Armed Forces but, because of the defence cuts, his application is not being processed until the beginning of next year at the earliest. So he's made (I guess with our support) the decision to sit his A levels this year and, if he gets the grades, defer his place at Uni until next year in the event that he doesn't make the grade for the Armed Forces. (He applied to go to Uni last year as initially he had problems with the medical side of things and it looked like that life in the Armed Forces was no longer a possibility)

The (cunning) plan is that he gets a full time job and we've told him that provided he saves half his wages (and we'll want to see proof of this ) then he can give us £20 a week - which at the end of the day is the same as the child benefit we're currently getting for him. (The reason for saving is if he does end up going to Uni then it will provide abit of a cushion for him and if he ends up in the Armed Forces well its a nice nest egg for something else)

However what amount would you charge if he isn't able to get a job? I doubt he would be able to get JSA as he has a part-time job at the mo which pays more than the JSA benefit itself.

Would you still charge him £20 per week or would that be too much given he would be saving half his wage, leaving him with a similar amount?

whitewing

Charge him £20 anyway. No reason why you can't save extra of it for a surprise nearer the time.

Apricot

I would still take £20 provided that he doesn't have to buy his own food and he just eats what is in the house. All the more incentive for him to find work as quickly as possible.

melancholly

not really relevent to your question, but if he's committed to an armed forces career, has he thought about armed forces sponsorship whilst at uni? gets to do both, go in at a higher level after he graduates and would make dealing with fees and living expenses much easier.
http://www.hmforces.co.uk/education/articles/list?article_search[category_id]=454

mountainofdebt

tbh Junior never really considered going to Uni until last year and only applied because it really looked as if the Armed Forces was no longer an option for him. I'm not convinced 100% that he really wants to go even now.

The plan was to take advantage of doing,effectively, an OU degree if he gets into the Armed Forces whilst he was training.

His part-time job does allow him to do overtime so I'm guessing £20 isn't that too bad a deal (as we'd eat as a family still) - I was just wondering if i was being a little mean - especially as it would only mean he had £20 to use as pocket money!

Fang_3

I'm confused - if he's sitting his A Levels this year, and so presumably in some form of education - why is he working full time, and why are you charging him rent?

mountainofdebt

To clarify -

Junior in full time education until May / June when he sits his A levels. Currently working part-time.

Plan is from June to some point in 2012 to get a job (preferably full time) until he either makes the grade for for the Armed Services or goes to Uni in Oct 2012 (assuming he gets the grades) if he doesn't get into Armed Services.

Between June 2012 and him leaving home rent to be charged and half of whatever salary to be saved.

Question is if he can't get a full time job (and so relying on parttime salary) what rent is to be charged?

BitterAndTwisted

The £20 a week you've already mentioned. If he's earning more than JSA on his part-time wages he should be able to afford it quite easily.

Fang_3

mountainofdebt wrote: »

To clarify -

Junior in full time education until May / June when he sits his A levels. Currently working part-time.

Plan is from June to some point in 2012 to get a job (preferably full time) until he either makes the grade for for the Armed Services or goes to Uni in Oct 2012 (assuming he gets the grades) if he doesn't get into Armed Services.

Between June 2012 and him leaving home rent to be charged and half of whatever salary to be saved.

Question is if he can't get a full time job (and so relying on parttime salary) what rent is to be charged?

Ahh, thanks for clarifying.

I personally wouldn't charge rent with him saving such a large proportion of his income for what is essentially a gap year. I have to admit I didn't like how you phrased the losing child benefit so he should fill in the gap part of your post - that doesn't sit right with me.

My parents wouldn't charge me anything if I lived at home full time, but that's mainly because they don't need the money and they don't believe in charging their children. They would expect us all to be saving the equivalent of private renting however.

To give you a different spin on this - my uncle (by marriage) currently has his mother living with him and my aunt, and he charges her rent for living in his house. The reason he does this is because from the age of 14 she took half of his wages and basically prevented him from being able to afford to move out for quite some years. He charges her for everything (when she's driven somewhere, when he does something for her like her shopping or picking up her prescriptions) because of this and I personally think it's only fair. I'm not saying that you're doing something that is in any way comparable but it is something for the 'you must charge your children' brigade to be aware of. There is a danger of charging for charging's sake.