Would you charge your kids rent?

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i mean adult children who still live at home

would you let them live at home if they wanted to?

if they did, would you charge them anything? why or why not?

i know there’s no right or wrong answer, just curious of different perspectives. i realize this may also be quite cultural sometimes based on reactions I’ve gotten from other people
Heck yeah I would.

I was paying $550 a month to rent a room from my Grandmother until I got my own place. And I am a better man for it I think. Heck yes they will be charged rent. And if they do not want to, their stuff will be out the door. And I mean all this with a lot of love. I do not want to see my kids be as irresponsible as I was in my early 20’s. I will help them, even let rent slide a few months if necessary but I WILL NOT let them take advantage and enable irresponsibility.
 
Wow. Amazing how many people wouldn’t expect their ADULT kids to contribute to the household.
🤷
It depends very much on the financial situation of the parents and children. Of course parents having trouble saving for their own pending retirement might need adult children to pay rent, even if those children are having trouble making tuition payments!

If the parents get old and have to live with their children, are they going to pay rent at their children’s house? If they can and the hosting children need it to make ends meet, sure, they might. If the parents are destitute and the children can afford to take care of them, then of course they wouldn’t. Well, adult children trying to pay their own way through college are often pretty much financially destitute. They can contribute work, but it is better for the overall finances of the family if they don’t pay rent.

Parents who have children who are being responsible with the money the children do have often look at rent as just money that is going to be in their estate when they die and subject to inheritance taxes.

If what you have when you die is going to the child anyway and you know the child would take care of you without rent if the tables were turned, why would you charge rent?
 
It depends very much on the financial situation of the parents. Of course parents having trouble saving for their own pending retirement might need adult children to pay rent, even if those children are having trouble making tuition payments!

If the parents get old and have to live with their children, are they going to pay rent at their children’s house? If they can and the hosting children need it to make ends meet, sure, they might. If the parents are destitute and the children can afford to take care of them, then of course they wouldn’t. Well, adult children trying to pay their own way through college are often pretty much financially destitute. They can contribute work, but it is better for the overall finances of the family if they don’t pay rent.

Parents who have children who are being responsible with the money the children do have often look at rent as just money that is going to be in their estate when they die and subject to inheritance taxes.

If what you have when you die is going to the child anyway and you know the child would take care of you without rent if the tables were turned, why would you charge rent?
Because there’s nothing wrong with little Timmy learning that he has to pay his way.

Also parents do a heck of a lot for their kids in the first place so why should they pay rent if they need support from kids in later life.
 
Because there’s nothing wrong with little Timmy learning that he has to pay his way.

Also parents do a heck of a lot for their kids in the first place so why should they pay rent if they need support from kids in later life.
I had an aunt who thought this way, but a truly ā€œJewish motherā€ (you don’t have to be Jewish or even female to be one) will never charge their children rent.
 
Because there’s nothing wrong with little Timmy learning that he has to pay his way.

Also parents do a heck of a lot for their kids in the first place so why should they pay rent if they need support from kids in later life.
My point was that families don’t have to keep track. If the parents see that ā€œLittle Timmyā€ is doing fine in the financial responsibility department and they find it useful to have him around, why charge rent? It isn’t wrong to ask whatever adult contribution to the household that parents want to ask, certainly they’re entitled to expect adults in their household to contribute as adults, but it isn’t necessary to charge rent in order to be a good parent, either.

I do not mean that aging parents aren’t owed care by the children they raised. I mean that sometimes adult children aren’t in a position to give what they would like to give and need help from the parents living with them in order to make ends meet. Parents living with one child might particularly want to reimburse that child as they go for the extra cost of taking them in, because it is far easier to do that than to split the estate unevenly in their wills to keep things fair between all their children, those doing elder care and those not doing it.

Parents might want to help children with tuition and don’t have the money for that, but can offer free housing at a great savings to the adult child and a far smaller financial cost to the parents. It is not some automatic disservice to the adult child to do that for him or her.

There was a time when adult children often stayed in their parents home until they married, whatever age that was. I don’t think this lead to irresponsibility in the children.
 
I’m not saying you should be totally inflexible about it. My idea would be to do it on principle. I paid a bit to my parents when I lived at home and I think it actually helped me to manage my money better.

Obviously if the child can’t afford it one month or has something more important to pay for I wouldn’t keep track in that way.
 
Wow. Amazing how many people wouldn’t expect their ADULT kids to contribute to the household.
🤷
kids can contribute other ways without it being financial.

there’s nothing wrong if the parents want to ask for that contribution. however, most didn’t for the major part of history and honestly most cultures are horrified that that idea, besides north americans and certain Europeans.
 
Probably not rent…at least not right away. Maybe if the child had actually moved out for a while and had to come home for some reason… But then the family dynamic would have changed that such an arrangement would become more palatable for both of us. But most likely not out of college.

After getting my first job, a lot of things suddenly became my responsibility. I had to pay for my clothes, entertainment, gas, car insurance, etc. All that stuff seemed obvious that I would start to take care of it, but when my mom tested the rent waters I remember my first reaction was one of horror. Why was my *mother *proposing we enter a renter/tenant relationship? If she ever had to move into MY future house someday, I wouldn’t have even dreamed of asking for *her *to pay rent.

I know what she meant now that I’m in my 30’s, but I remember feeling suddenly less like a loved one and more like an additional source of income. I must have made quite a face because she never mentioned rent again. :o
to be honest, that’s how I feel too, more like a source of income

and it’s not about the money, I probably would have volunteered to give some anyways. I realize I am not entitled necessarily to live here. I am more then happy to contribute to the household

but I am constantly being told that I am a burder to still have under their roof and how expensive I cost but they feel obligated to help me because I am their child and somehow all the money I am giving them is never enough so they keep increasing the amount

and when I mention I could move out, they get angry that I’m abandoning the family and why would I move out if I’m not married yet?

anyways, full time job acquired now, so hopefully things
 
to be honest, that’s how I feel too, more like a source of income

and it’s not about the money, I probably would have volunteered to give some anyways. I realize I am not entitled necessarily to live here. I am more then happy to contribute to the household

but I am constantly being told that I am a burder to still have under their roof and how expensive I cost but they feel obligated to help me because I am their child and somehow all the money I am giving them is never enough so they keep increasing the amount

and when I mention I could move out, they get angry that I’m abandoning the family and why would I move out if I’m not married yet?

anyways, full time job acquired now, so hopefully things
I have always been appalled at the attitude that you are a burden to your parents…which you have mentioned on several occasions. The fact that you are legally blind, they do want you there for money, and they don’t want you there because they are flat out MEAN and trying to make YOU feel guilty for existing??? :eek:…I’m sorry. There are no words. :mad:
If you even more to the U.S… look us up.

Get your job going, move out, don’t look back. I know you love them, or are trying to love them, but some people are just cruel.
No one should be treated like this.

You have friends here, We’re rooting for your success.
 
I have always been appalled at the attitude that you are a burden to your parents…which you have mentioned on several occasions. The fact that you are legally blind, they do want you there for money, and they don’t want you there because they are flat out MEAN and trying to make YOU feel guilty for existing??? :eek:…I’m sorry. There are no words. :mad:
If you even more to the U.S… look us up.

Get your job going, move out, don’t look back. I know you love them, or are trying to love them, but some people are just cruel.
No one should be treated like this.

You have friends here, We’re rooting for your success.
it’s hard to understand too.

and the attitude is inconsistent. one day, everything seems fine, the next, it’s not. they really have done a lot for me, but then it always seems to come back to bite me later

but I’ve realized it’s not about me at all. they have issues and deep wounds that they just pushed under the surface and there are things that trigger them and make them react in very odd ways. I’ve learned to at least try to stop taking everything personally, because I obviously just can’t. too exhausting.

anyways, they never thought anyone would hire me for a job because I can’t see, but I just refused to believe that, so I kept applying everywhere anyways. granted, it was my dad who saw the job posting I got now but I still had to go through the whole process of passing all the tests and all that.

maybe this will at least help them feel like I don’t have a hopeless future
 
i mean adult children who still live at home

would you let them live at home if they wanted to?

if they did, would you charge them anything? why or why not?

i know there’s no right or wrong answer, just curious of different perspectives. i realize this may also be quite cultural sometimes based on reactions I’ve gotten from other people
My parents didn’t charge me rent during term time at uni (I lived at home). But I had a summer job and no uni fees so I paid rent then. Had I lived at home after uni I would have kept paying rent. I was happy to.

Adults be adults.

Of course if I fall on hard times I know my parents will take me in with open arms. I shall pay them with housework. Don’t plan on that happening though obvs.
 
For recent immigrants, the practice of kicking children out when they turn 18 is a foreign concept, some even view it as heartless.

I know someone who returned home from her high school graduation only to find her things out on the curb. She was essentially evicted. Now that is what I call heartless.
I never could see that, either.

Growing up in the U.S. it wasn’t that uncommon to see people kicked out when they turned 18, but usually they’d get advance notice.
Parents might want to help children with tuition and don’t have the money for that, but can offer free housing at a great savings to the adult child and a far smaller financial cost to the parents. It is not some automatic disservice to the adult child to do that for him or her.
That was exactly the deal I had.

I’m sure Mom and Dad felt badly about not being able to help me out financially so I was allowed to live in the family home for free as partial compensation.

My aunt and uncle’s kids were ā€œexpectedā€ to move out of the house and one of my cousins once returned home to find a pool table where his bed used to be. But, their kids could always ā€œborrowā€ a few thousand whenever they needed it from my uncle, and since Mom and Dad couldn’t help me that way they helped me a little bit with free rent.
I think it might rather depend on what they earned and whether they were saving to buy a home, things like that?
During the time period when my mother was around I never had any kind of a good-paying job where I could pay rent to her and still have anything left.

If I had had any kind of an income I would have moved out of the house or paid rent to my mother, and if I could I would have even ā€œsent money home.ā€
 
My parents never charged me rent, although my mom threatened it a couple times when my brothers and I were teenagers and thought we were ā€œadults.ā€ šŸ˜›

After high school, I only lived at home during breaks. After college, it took me about four months to find a job and then I moved out of town. My parents are very generous and helpful and I am forever appreciative of that. In fact, they helped me pay rent for the first six months because I was just starting at a low hourly wage and I was part time. After about six months, my pay went up a bit and I became full time, so I was able to pay my expenses. I think my parents would only ever charge rent if I or any of my brothers were still living at home, clearly uninterested in finding a job or another living situation.

I don’t have kids yet, but I don’t think I would do it either. My fiance is Hispanic and it is very normal for adult children (even married adult children) to live with parents. It is interesting because by the time I was in college and had a certain level of independence, I knew I didn’t want to live with my parents forever. I think my fiance thought that was strange, that I would want to move out of my parents’ house.
 
Yeah, I’m amazed at the ā€œlet’s teach them a lessonā€ vibe.
**
I rather think that life is hard enough.**
I know well how disappointed my girls were when:
they didn’t make the team
they didn’t go to the prom
they didn’t get voted student body president
they didn’t get a car for their sweet 16
they didn’t go on a Senior trip
they didn’t have perfect skin in high school
they didn’t didn’t get the first job they applied for
their ā€œfriendā€ betrayed their confidence
their teacher was short with them
their best friend stole a boyfriend
their CD player broke
their dog died
the car they share got rear-ended twice
the car they share got dented when a oak limb fell on it
any any NUMBER of things that happen to people just because that’s life!

I am happy that my daughters have a safe, soft place to fall. They’ve never once held anything from me, or decided to stop communicating with me. They’ve always told me the truth.
They are loved beyond measure, and they have lived the hard knock life, particularly when their dad died. It’s enough. I can let them live in my house rent free. I’ll live. They give much more than they take. It was a lovely Mother’s Day at my place. ā¤ļø
 
i mean adult children who still live at home

would you let them live at home if they wanted to?

if they did, would you charge them anything? why or why not?

i know there’s no right or wrong answer, just curious of different perspectives. i realize this may also be quite cultural sometimes based on reactions I’ve gotten from other people
Yes if they are not in school, are working. It would probably be a minimal amount to at least cover groceries. I’d also enforce curfew even over the age of 21 because my house is not huge and I need sleep.šŸ˜›

Having said that, my daughter will always find a room in our house to live if she needs it and I would be as flexible as possible depending on the circumstances. After graduating from college if she needs some time at home before starting her first job, then she’ll be able to stay with us. I don’t understand kicking kids out after high school graduation. That’s heartless! If she is unemployed, I would probably expect her to help with chores around the house etc.
 
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