Mother sparks debate for saying it’s ‘greedy’ to charge adult kids rent

‘I’d want my kids to be able to afford their own place, not make it harder for them,’ said the mother. A mother has sparked a debate online after admitting that she finds it weird for parents to ask their adult children to pay them rent. Statistics published earlier this year show the proportion of 25 to 34-year-olds living with their parents has risen by more than a third in just under two decades.

The share of this age group living at home was at almost a fifth (18 per cent) last year, up from 13 per cent in 2006, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) in its “Hotel Of Mum and Dad?” report. In 2018, it was reported that millennials can expect to pay a total of £1,584 a year to live with their parents.

The mother wrote: “My friend has a daughter (17) she charges rent. My family did the same to me growing up. Am I the only one who thinks it’s setting your kids up for failure and greedy to charge your kids for staying in their childhood home?”. She added: “I’d want my kids to be able to afford their own place not make it harder for them. Only thing I would do was pretend to and then give it all back to them”.

Responses to the post have so far been mixed. One person said: “It totally depends on the situation. If an 18-year-old has a job and is still living with their parent, and the parent isn’t financially well off, why should the parent still continue to pay for the child’s lifestyle?.

“Maybe the parent/s have struggled for years to pay bills, working hard etc. the child should pay their own way. If the parent is financially well off and can afford to not charge rent, fantastic.”. Another argued: “You realise that some people have little money and can't provide for an adult – also when the child becomes an adult there is no child benefit, but also they are no longer counted for other benefits like universal credit. If the adult child is working you lose council tax discount. Many people need their working son or daughter to contribute to the bills. There is the assumption that adult children are contributing to bills.

“I think charging rent is fairly unusual but charging board is not and I think perfectly reasonable. If you are wealthy enough to feed, clothe and pay all your adult child's bills that's up to the individual, but with the cost of living crisis many simply can't afford to subsidise.”.

“My view is if a child is over 18 and working full time (not in education) then yes, of course, they should pay,” a third person chimed in. “Mainly because it teaches them financial responsibility. Life is not free. Having your full income as pocket money is not a good life lesson at all. Secondly, why should other adults in my house have to pay and also subsidise them?”.

Someone else shared their own experience, writing: “I don't call it ‘rent’ as such. It is ‘paying for your keep’ and it's always been the norm in my experience where the son/ daughter is in employment.”. A firth person did agree with the original post, saying: “No I don’t charge my 19-year-old rent because I’m encouraging her to save money for a house deposit.