How much should parents contribute financially?

tass

I have two sons at uni - both live at home - both have part time jobs - our gross income is £41,000 pa. The money they earn is pocket money basically. We pay for their books and travel. I think that since they live at home and have no living expenses that is our contribution. One says that according to saas we should in fact be contributing roughly £100 per month to each of them too. Am I being unreasonable. If we gave them £100 each per month it would give them each in excess of £500 per month purely as pocket money. What do other people do?

The_One_Who

£500 per month with no outgoings (no rent or travel to pay) is excessive. However, if you can afford that and want to give that then that's up to you as a parent.

Oldernotwiser

tass wrote: »

I have two sons at uni - both live at home - both have part time jobs - our gross income is £41,000 pa. The money they earn is pocket money basically. We pay for their books and travel. I think that since they live at home and have no living expenses that is our contribution. One says that according to saas we should in fact be contributing roughly £100 per month to each of them too. Am I being unreasonable. If we gave them £100 each per month it would give them each in excess of £500 per month purely as pocket money. What do other people do?

I think that your son is trying it on with you! If they're living rent and board free then this is going to be worth at least £80 per week and you're paying for their travel and books as well.

Tell him you're not that daft!

tass

The_One_Who wrote: »

£500 per month with no outgoings (no rent or travel to pay) is excessive. However, if you can afford that and want to give that then that's up to you as a parent.

I dont want to give them it - that's the problem. I don't have £500 a month as pocket money - wish I did. To be fair only one of them has said this - and am sure once he is out of his strop he will realise how unreasonable he is being.

tass

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think that your son is trying it on with you! If they're living rent and board free then this is going to be worth at least £80 per week and you're paying for their travel and books as well.

Tell him you're not that daft!

Yeah I agree. He hasn't considered that fact that he lives rent and board free ... I don't want them to be short of money but they are hardly that- they've got more disposable income that we have.

Oldernotwiser

tass wrote: »

Yeah I agree. He hasn't considered that fact that he lives rent and board free ... I don't want them to be short of money but they are hardly that- they've got more disposable income that we have.

Being short of money is the normal situation for a student - be firm!

AnnBar

tass wrote: »

I have two sons at uni - both live at home - both have part time jobs - our gross income is £41,000 pa. The money they earn is pocket money basically. We pay for their books and travel. I think that since they live at home and have no living expenses that is our contribution. One says that according to saas we should in fact be contributing roughly £100 per month to each of them too. Am I being unreasonable. If we gave them £100 each per month it would give them each in excess of £500 per month purely as pocket money. What do other people do?

If he is complaing then give him £100 per month but stop paying for his travel and books and ask him to pay £50 per week in rent!!

marywooyeah

I dont recieve a penny from either of my parents and am a second year student. I get fed up of hearing how other students parent's pay their accomodation/cars/spends/mobile bills etc yet they have blown all their student loans on clubbing!
if you can afford to give a bit then thats great, but part of being a student is managing your money independently and your child needs to learn this.

k4kate

Most people I have spoken to tend to just pay for their child's rent (if anything at all) and expect them to be able to manage with the maintenance loan for anything else. This seems quite feasible to me.

Our son is starting Uni this year and we are planning to buy a property for him and his friends to live in (we're not rich btw, in laws are helping with the deposit). So whilst we will be shelling out for the deposit, we won't be actually giving him ANY money. He will, however, not have any rent to worry about.

tass

AnnBar wrote: »

If he is complaing then give him £100 per month but stop paying for his travel and books and ask him to pay £50 per week in rent!!

I did suggest that - it's good to know that I'm not being mean ...