Once your kids are earning should you charge them Housekeeping?

Jacks_xxx

:wave: Hiya lovelies!

I'm interested in other people's opinions about this as there is a bit of a difference of opinion in our family about it.

Do let me know what you think.

Love Jacks xxx

gazza975526570

I guess it depends how muh you earn and what your children earn - ie how your family finances are

IMHO i think it teaches good skills for them to pay even if you dont actually requie the money

Let me guess the lady in the house doesnt want to charge and the fella does?

Primrose

Yes, I definitely think children should contribute to the household once they're earning, otherwise they end up with a very false sense of living for free. It will also help them to budget and get used to the idea of paying their way. It doesn't matter whether the income is needed or not. Parents can always secretly put the money away in a savings account somewhere and give it back if their children are saving for a house or getting married.

shop-to-drop

Hello Jacks

Yep, this is one I feel strongly about and opinions differ strongly in our family too!

I would definitely charge and not a token amount either. I would charge say around £50 a week (depending on their income).

I would charge this whether or not I needed the contribution. My plan would be to set up an account for this money and save it. The money would then be used at my discretion to help the child when they needed it. For instance when buying a house. I don't think I'd let them know I was going to let them have it back but I may hint.

I think it is so essential for young adults to learn to budget and the cost of living ASAP and that would be my reason for doing so. I think it shows such lack of respect for their parents when they don't pay. My nephew aged 23 who works full time, lives (for free) with his mum who works in a fast food restaurant and so struggles with the bills. Unbelievable!!

LookingAhead

Definitely charge, but make it realistic depending on their earnings.

As soon as I & my siblings were out to work, Mum made it clear we were expected to contribute and she made it affordable but still a decent amount.

How else will children start to learn about budgeting and responsibilities?

LookingAhead

Mind you it didn't help me once I reached 18! :rotfl:

debjam

My mom used to charge me a fee for washing clothes, cooking meals, and then an amount for use of electric/gas/water etc. If I wasn't home for a meal or did my own washing then I wasn't charged for that item. This helped me with budgeting and made me start organising my own washing and meals. My first job was living in which provided my accommodation and meals whilst on site (even when not on duty). So tended to only be home on days off.

Unknown to me though she actually put this money away in a building society account and then gave it me back when I eventually left home completely (bought a house with my then bf).

astonsmummy

yep defianelty.
My mum used to charge me £20pw bless her, my dad tried saying i had to pay £70pw :eek:
At the time i was 17/18 bringing home £800+pm after tax.
But she left soon after so i went with her.
When DS is workijng i'll probably charge him the same, well obviously inline with 15 years of inflation :rotfl:

belfastgirl23

If your kids are younger and have part time jobs earning say £20-£30 per week I wouldn't be looking for money from them (except maybe to encourage them to save) but they would be expected to pay for their own treats (clothes, computer games etc) and you wouldn't be giving them money on a regular basis to supplement this (so no pocket money).

If they're working full time then they should definitely be paying something into the house. I'd suggest taking them through all your bills and suggesting they pay a proportionate amount (so divide by 5 if there are 5 of you in the house). they will probably get a scare with this, so when you set a more reasonable amount (a third to half of their income depending on how much they are earning) they are more likely to agree. This is if the difference of opinion is child/parents.

If the difference is between the parents then I'd suggest that you take the money and put it in a high interest savings account for your child, that way you get the thing of teaching them about money but your partner can justify it as saving for them. Of course you wouldn't tell the child you're doing this until they're thinking about a deposit on a house or something else you felt was worth giving them the money towards. By which time they would have learned the lesson you want them to learn anyway. Unless you really need the money of course in which case you should take it and use it!

I do think it's important to ensure that they know that one way or another they have to take some responsibility for their money, this is a really important life lesson! I have a relative at the minute who is sharing a house with 3 others, one of whom never puts a penny towards anything. I think it's at least partly because his parents never expected him to pay towards his keep so he didn't learn that he has responsibility to pay his own way.

misspoppy

Hi

I either had it really hard or you are all quite soft. When I was in college, 1992-1995 i had to pay £45p/w to my Dad and stepmonster, this was the whole of my grant and I had to go out to work for money that i needed.

If a "child" has got a full time job in my opinion they should pay a reasonable contribution to the bills eg if mum dad and little working Johnny are at home little working Johnny should pay a 3rd of the all the bills just like if he was sharing a house or simillar chances are they are in more comforatable surroundings than a house share!

RoxieW

Definitely - just make it a reasonable amount - not too OTT. I'd say charge £20 for every £100 of their earnings (unless they have any big outgoings).

There's nothing worse than a child who's had a free ride into early adulthood. Lots of my friends have had short sharp shocks when they (eventually!) left home and have had problems because of it. You'll be doing them a favour.

If u need the cash - use it - after all, they're costing u in food/utilities/phone/sky/petrol ect ect. If not, its a great idea to secretly save it up!

On other hand - my OH is far too strict with this kind of thing and reckons he'll make our two leave home at 16!!!:rolleyes: