What would be fair amount for a 21 year old to pay?

ttc39

I paid 350 a month for a room in a shared house 10 years ago. Your son has it easy :-)

Toomuchdebt

I went to uni at 18 and then got married so never lived at home but would have paid rent had I been at home and working.I certainly wouldn't be able to afford to keep any of my kids aged 21 for free.

Girlycara -You're very lucky your parents could do so.And it's certainly your prerogative to not take a penny from your own children when they're 21 and earning double what you are, but wow you do come across as a spoilt brat.By your definition I shouldn't even have had kids in the first place seeing as I can't afford to keep them rent free for as long as they want to live here.Actually I'm amazed you even moved out of your parents house. It'd be interesting to see if you actually do keep your kids rent free even when they get to 21 and earning double what you do.

Buzzybee90

He's the same age as me and earns more than 10,000 more than me, I'm on a pretty standard graduate wage. Tell him to grow up.

Person_one

I'm actually not a huge fan of parents charging their kids rent just for the sake of it, when they don't need the money, or because they think it teaches them some sort of lesson. My parents charged me a token amount which allowed to buy my own home much much sooner than if I'd been paying market rent.

However, in this case, the 'child' is the highest earner by a long way and the parents need his contribution to manage. That's pretty much the one situation where I'm completely on board with it.

balletshoes

Person_one wrote: »

I'm actually not a huge fan of parents charging their kids rent just for the sake of it, when they don't need the money, or because they think it teaches them some sort of lesson.
My parents charged me a token amount which allowed to buy my own home much much sooner than if I'd been paying market rent.

However, in this case, the 'child' is the highest earner by a long way and the parents need his contribution to manage. That's pretty much the one situation where I'm completely on board with it.

i'm not disagreeing with you person_one, just wondering - can you get a place for £300 a month, all bills, food and toiletries included? Even at £300, I don't think thats anything like market rent, if you include everything else the OPs son currently gets for his board money?

I wasn't charged "market rent" as board, I don't know any people who were to be honest.

GobbledyGook

I cannot abide adults who begrude their parents a fair contribution to the housekeeping pot.

If a 21 year old man earning 31k (which is a really good wage - above the national average) came on here moaning about being unable to afford in his own flat to live he'd get told to wind his neck in I bet, let alone if he said he couldn't save with bills of £300. It's more than many, many people run an entire family household on.

Lots of parents expect their children to move out by that kind of age, especially when they can afford it so he's hardly hard done by.

Of the Italian families I know, whilst the families don't ask for payments from their child in the ones I know it's because they don't have to! The children hand over a reasonable amount willingly! They also contribute to the home and don't expect to be waited on hand and foot.

My friend had a debate with her 19 year old and gave him the choice. 1/3 of his wage like she had too when she was younger; an equal split of the bills (minus the mortgage) with the other 4 adults in the house or the £250 she was asking for. Obviously he had the choice to move out either. He decided to go for the £250 option

Plus all the little bits that children cost add up. So that bit more electric for another shower or tv or x-box on all night, plus one extra meal morning and night (sometimes a lunch too) and snacks, that wee bit extra on the phone bill and sometimes even the simple fact that there's no option to downsize because the bedroom is in use.

Also where do you draw the line? No charging at 18 or 21 because it's unfair as most that age are at home and you should plan for it. However with people staying at home longer and longer where does that end? Is it unfair to charge at 25? 30? 40?

Georgiegirl256

I'm with the 'don't agree with parents charging' point of view.

My parents were of the same view, and the only thing I really paid for was food that I wanted that was different to what was being made for the family meal.

As post no:41 states, costs more or less stay the same, so my point of view is that I'd rather the money go towards a deposit for a flat or a house.

victory

girlycara wrote: »

as a relatively young person who until recently lived at home, I disagree with the idea of charging kids (even when adults and earning), a penny. I will never charge my kids a single penny when I eventually have them. you have kids knowing they will cost you, if you cant afford to look after and nurture them then don't have them. they don't stop being your kids on your 18th birthday.

look at cultures that have far healthier attitudes to family life, Italians etc, they would never charge their kids rent

Not true. My friends from Spain used to work and hand over their entire wage to their parents, their parents then gave them 'spending money for the month', if they were rich and able to( the idea was to teach them about money, work and savings) they would put it away in a seperate bank account as much as they could and give it to them on their wedding day.

They were expected to pay the moment they were earning.

girlycara

victory wrote: »

Not true. My friends from Spain used to work and hand over their entire wage to their parents, their parents then gave them 'spending money for the month', if they were rich and able to( the idea was to teach them about money, work and savings) they would put it away in a seperate bank account as much as they could and give it to them on their wedding day.

They were expected to pay the moment they were earning.

Im not disputing what you are saying, except I would question your geographical knowledge.

no atlas I have ever looked in describes Spain as being a part of Italy.

victory

girlycara wrote: »

Im not disputing what you are saying, except I would question your geographical knowledge.

no atlas I have ever looked in describes Spain as being a part of Italy.

I never said it was, my friends lived in Spain.