Charging teens rent....

Caz3121

I would say clothes become her responsibility 100%
toiletries - if for benefit of household then it is part of 'keep', if 'special' then it becomes her expense

phill99

If you don't charge your children rent (and a proper rent. not this £30 a week rubbish), you are setting them up to fail. They will not understand how to budget properly and they will not understand the realistic costs of everything. Not only that they will think that all of the money that they have left over is disposable income and will treat it as such. When they move out, they will have some very difficult and hard lessons to learn about financial priorities.


Make them pay a proper rent and you will help them in the long run.

PINEAPPLE1234

Depends on individuals circumstance. Work out a budget with them what you all need and what everyone can afford you can review this whenever you want, also get them to start saving don't save for them they need to learn to do this for themselves for unexpected bills holidays, driving lessons etc instead of missing paying rent to you Its a good life lesson.

Norman_Castle

alrhios wrote: »

My daughter has a part time evening job and is soon to start and apprenticeship. She will be earning circa £1100 per month, not bad for age 18.
I provide everything for her, food, water heating, toiletries, packed lunches, clothes etc. She has to pay to run her car and anything else she wants, but essentially she has all she needs with me.

As a dependent child you will have needed to provide for her but as she now has the means to fund her needs she should pay her way. Explain as a child you received child benefit to help with her costs but this has now stopped. Work out the actual cost of her living with you for a starting point for what she should give you.
She doesn't have to pay to run her car, she chooses to own a car which is something many 18 year olds cannot afford to do. By subsidizing her living costs you are running her car.


Being an adult includes supporting yourself.

goodwithsaving

phill99 wrote: »

If you don't charge your children rent (and a proper rent. not this £30 a week rubbish), you are setting them up to fail. They will not understand how to budget properly and they will not understand the realistic costs of everything. Not only that they will think that all of the money that they have left over is disposable income and will treat it as such. When they move out, they will have some very difficult and hard lessons to learn about financial priorities.


Make them pay a proper rent and you will help them in the long run.

Wow. Sweeping generalisation. I wasn't charged rent the first time I went home after university and the second time I moved home a year later it was £90/month when I earned £25,000 a year. In the end I was at home for 6 weeks and moved 25 minutes away so I could be nearer work, and rented a place of my own even though I could have lived at home a lot cheaper.

I bought three houses by the time I was 30 and have had nothing given to me from my parents. I save hard and manage my money very well. They ask me for advice now.



So I wish people on this forum were less aggro about 'freeloading children'. It was their way of helping and didn't exactly cause me to be the catastrophic failure of an adult that this forum seems to expect.

suki1964

When I started full time work back in 79, my wages were 42.50 and I had to put £20 into the house

My husband was an apprentice earning £17.50 and he had to put £10 in, as his dad said to him, if he could find anywhere where he could get 3 meals a day, his washing and ironing done and a roof over his head for less - he knew where the the door was

Yes a different era

I think that dividing the bills between the adults in the family is a good starting point

silvercar

trphil wrote: »

Not at all, I don't need the money but they need to get used to paying their way. They won't know that they have "extra" deposit until such time as they tell me they're buying a house. When my wife and I bought our house my wife's grandparents gave us £1000 towards the deposit, it was much appreciated.

If you don’t need the money, why take it off your children?

I don’t understand this urge to treat your children as if they were lodgers. Of course educate your children about budgeting ready for when they move out, but if you don’t need the money then let them save some of the earnings for a deposit for when they do move,

yoshiyella

You could always sit down with your son/daughter and list on paper what everything costs you to keep the house running.


Then leave it to them to make a suggested contribution.

lookstraightahead

silvercar wrote: »

If you don’t need the money, why take it off your children?

I don’t understand this urge to treat your children as if they were lodgers. Of course educate your children about budgeting ready for when they move out, but if you don’t need the money then let them save some of the earnings for a deposit for when they do move,

I suppose in the same way as if you can drive them they don't need to learn to drive, if you're wealthy they'll never need to earn/work as you can give them money, if you can cook their meals they don't need to cook, if you can speak on their behalf they don't need to speak for themselves. That kind of stuff .

jennifernil

alrhios wrote: »

After some advice...
How many of you charge rent to your teens who are earning?
My daughter has a part time evening job and is soon to start and apprenticeship. She will be earning circa £1100 per month, not bad for age 18.
I provide everything for her, food, water heating, toiletries, packed lunches, clothes etc. She has to pay to run her car and anything else she wants, but essentially she has all she needs with me.
I made the suggestion that perhaps she cold contribute financially now that shes earning.... I do feel a bit uncomfortable about this because shes my child, but its not nice to feel the mick is being taken a little bit when I'm struggling financially....
whats your views on this and if i decide to ask for a contribution, how much do i suggest??
Thanks x

Once she starts her apprenticeship she should be funding all her personal needs such as clothes and toiletries herself. For food/meals she should be making a reasonable contribution, divide the food bill by the number of people being fed.

For "rent" she should also make a contribution as her being there is using additional hot water and electricity, I think this is the more difficult figure to calculate.

She should also be doing some chores such as cleaning and dishwashing, even cooking the occasional meal for all the family.