Grown up children living at home

balletshoes

Person_one wrote: »

You don't think there's a message there? There's an expectation by the government that parents of people in their late teens and early twenties will support them, and even house them.

that expectation has been there, certainly as far as benefits go, since the 1980s at least - no benefits until you're 18 unless you're estranged from your parents, and a lower amount of benefit from the age of 18 to the age of 24. The thinking behind this was that over 25s would be more expected to have their own household and associated bills to pay, so they got more money in benefits.

I left school in 1984 and started work - as I wasn't claiming benefits it didn't occur to me that I should expect to be supported by my parents. I paid my way, and made my own decisions (not swayed by the government benefit rules of the day) when to move out on my own (long before the age of 25).

Person_one

balletshoes wrote: »

I left school in 1984 and started work - as I wasn't claiming benefits it didn't occur to me that I should expect to be supported by my parents. I paid my way, and made my own decisions (not swayed by the government benefit rules of the day) when to move out on my own (long before the age of 25).

What if you'd lost your job at 22 or 23 in an economy where your chances of walking straight into another were slim to none?

Mojisola

Person_one wrote: »

What if you'd lost your job at 22 or 23 in an economy where your chances of walking straight into another were slim to none?

I don't think anyone is saying that grown-up children shouldn't ever go back and live at home - we lived with my OH's parents when our children were small and one son is still at home with us because he isn't well enough to live independently - it's the relationship between the family members that the issue.

Adult children should behave like adults, not children.

balletshoes

Person_one wrote: »

What if you'd lost your job at 22 or 23 in an economy where your chances of walking straight into another were slim to none?

personally? When I was 22, in my immediate area, the economy was dire - I'd have been down McDonalds or KFC etc, putting my CV out there, making my face known.

Person_one

Mojisola wrote: »

I don't think anyone is saying that grown-up children shouldn't ever go back and live at home - we lived with my OH's parents when our children were small and one son is still at home with us because he isn't well enough to live independently - it's the relationship between the family members that the issue.

Adult children should behave like adults, not children.

I think we've wandered off my original point slightly, which was the inequality in the rights of young adults, who can't access the same benefits and even wages as adults a few years older so when times are hard they are pretty much forced back into their parents' homes.

Then they get accused of not being grown up enough, when our system doesn't really want them to be!

balletshoes

Person_one wrote: »

I think we've wandered off my original point slightly, which was the inequality in the rights of young adults, who can't access the same benefits and even wages as adults a few years older so when times are hard they are pretty much forced back into their parents' homes.

Then they get accused of not being grown up enough, when our system doesn't really want them to be!

I do understand where you're coming from - but adult children can go back home and be adults, they don't have to revert to behaving like, or being treated like, dependent children.

Person_one

balletshoes wrote: »

personally? When I was 22, in my immediate area, the economy was dire - I'd have been down McDonalds or KFC etc, putting my CV out there, making my face known.

Even McDonalds can take their pick these days:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4645045

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4082127

dktreesea

Even though young adults who moved out of home then fall on hard times don't have many financial resources available to them to cover their income shortfall, - e.g. a shared room rate for LHA rather than a one bedroom rate might not be enough to cover a shared room if living somewhere like London, - maybe they should have a fall back position in the back of their minds, just in case moving back to their parents home doesn't work out.

I have a friend who was quite shocked a few years ago when, on wanting to move back in with her Mum for a while during hard times, got told it wasn't convenient. Even though there was a spare room. It wasn't the family home. Her parents had split up and both remarried many years earlier. Her Mum's new husband felt that sharing with adult children wasn't what he was about so vetoed the move.

Dunroamin

Person_one wrote: »

I think we've wandered off my original point slightly, which was the inequality in the rights of young adults, who can't access the same benefits and even wages as adults a few years older so when times are hard they are pretty much forced back into their parents' homes.

Then they get accused of not being grown up enough, when our system doesn't really want them to be!

You get the same amount of JSA when living with your parents as you do when living independently. Given that you can also claim LHA for the rent, I don't see that anyone's being "forced" back home unless they're doing it in order for their parents to subsidise them, which isn't really the actions of an adult.

Own_My_Own

Dunroamin wrote: »

You get the same amount of JSA when living with your parents as you do when living independently. Given that you can also claim LHA for the rent, I don't see that anyone's being "forced" back home unless they're doing it in order for their parents to subsidise them, which isn't really the actions of an adult.

If you live alone and have the lounge light on you pay the whole amount for using it. If you live with other people (say parents) and the light is on, you pay your share of the bill.
So obviously living back home is cheaper, even with out subsidy.