Should you charge your adult children rent?
It’s a question that sparked fiery debate on TikTok recently. A mum called Roxy revealed she’s charged her teenager £30 a week to live under her roof before.
And now her daughter has moved back home, she was wondering if she should enforce the rent rule once more. She believes getting young adults to pay up can teach them life lessons and stop them from being “entitled”.
However, she wasn’t sure how much to charge her 21-year-old daughter, who also has a boyfriend who she used to live with for £1,000 a month.
Roxy asked: “How much do I charge her? I don’t need the money but do I charge her anything? Her boyfriend won’t be living with us but he will be there a lot, and they do eat a lot. I will become her taxi as she doesn’t drive…
“Unless you’re studying or saving for a house, there should be no adult living at home with their parents that are not contributing in some way – be it cleaning, or giving money for food, you know it’s not free. The cost of living is wild these days.”
In the end, Roxy decided she wouldn’t make her daughter pay rent. Instead, she’ll be expected to buy her own food and replace anything she eats from the cupboard of fridge.
The mum added: “If I see she is spending money on holidays and buys herself a nice car or something then yeah I’m going to say – pay some money. I don’t want her here forever – she’s quite messy…
“You [parents] should not have to ask, they should want to give it you. If you respect your parents, you would not expect them to provide for your grown a** adult self. When your kid is 40 years old and they’re still spooning off you, then that’s on you.
“If you’re working to save for a house or studying and your parents can afford to support you then yeah, fair enough don’t pay anything but if you are just working and you are living off home and sponging off your parents then you’ve got no respect.”
The video garnered 2,700 likes – and many agreed with Roxy’s rule. One said: “My son is 26 and he contribute £150 a week. He takes home a week £1500 a week and I take £1426 home a month.”
Another shared: “My son is 24. He earns approx the same as I do. We split the rent, council tax, water rates and energy 50/50. He has the main room. I do a monthly shop once a month but in between he buys his own food.”
Meanwhile, a third added: “I think you should charge and they should pay out of respect , it’s setting them up for real life.” However, others completely disagreed.
A responder remarked: “Personally couldn’t charge my kids,” one commented. Another added: “Wow. I have never had to pay a penny to my parents while I still lived at home.”
Another agreed: “Charging kids rent is criminal.” And a third added: “Parents house is your home. Charge nothing. Don’t understand parents who charge. I stayed with mine until I was 30.”