Contribution towards household costs

I'm 20 and don't pay anything to live at home during the hols... my parents have repeatedly flat-out refused to take a penny off me, even when I simply offered to contribute to the leccy bill to cover my computer, etc. They find the idea abhorrent that you should charge your own children to live in your house, and I'd like to think that that's the attitude I'll take with my kids. I'd of course be willing to pay if I was asked/'allowed' to, but my upbringing leads me to say that it's something parents should avoid if it's financially possible. When I become a parent, I'd like to think that my home is a place where my kids are always welcome without those kinds of conditions.

Maybe my view will change when I leave Uni and get a job, though.
 
DB_SamX said:
With you all the way on this; I don't understand how parents make their kids pay to live with them or even expect them to - what is the point of a family otherwise?
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Is that a serious quesiton? What's the point of family if you have to contribute towards the significant amount that you as an adult cost your parents long after you have grown out of childhood? Wow...

asim18 said:
Holy cow! you guys pay your parents?

My 27 year old brother used to earn about £1,700 per month for 4 years and never used to give my mum a single penny, my mum earns about 800 per month and barely manages to take care of the mortgage/bills.

And now he's going back to uni, he has spent all his money posting designer watches to several whores he's met over the internet, that don't even live in the UK, and porn subscriptions. He has no money at all, and cant get a loan due to bad credit. And now my mum has do go £4000 in debt to pay his uni fees.
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Sounds like one of the worlds biggest losers. :(
 
[TW]Fox;12628326 said:
Thats disgusting - if your parents ever need help or are struggling you should do everything you can to help financially or otherwise.
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Would you sell your car and help your parents if your parents fell on hard times?
 
I think it also depends on how well off your parents are and how sensible the kid is, I pay my parents money but they still have a mortgage so it is fair enough really. I plan to pay my mortgage off before my kids are my age so I should hopefully not have to worry much about money then and wouldn't make my children pay, however if you aren't careful some children don't learn the value of money, if they didn't have a job and were taking advantage or weren't saving it up for a deposit I would make em pay. :)
 
Richdog said:
Is that a serious quesiton? What's the point of family if you have to contribute towards the significant amount that you as an adult cost your parents long after you have grown out of childhood? Wow...
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Yes, it is. And if it's you opinion that kids should start paying rent once they hit 16 or whenever childhood ends, so be it. I was not brought up that up and I wouldn't bring mine up as such. And you must have glanced over the part which said that I do still willingly contribute towards household costs despite not being asked to. It's up to the kids and if they are brought up well, they will work out for themselves when they should contribute. Parents should not have kids if they EXPECT them to start paying rent & food as soon as they hit 16;what if the kids are in a medical position that they cannot work, do the latter get kicked out?
 
I do agree with what people have been saying about paying board if your parents arent in the financial situation to support you, and of course I would do the same, however I dont think it is fair for everyone to assume that is a complete requirement to do so.
There are parents in all sorts of different financial situations, some very wealthy some not. I dont not believe that if someone has well off parents (and that is not the childs fault may I add) they should fall within this category that many people seem to have a view of here that everyone should pay board regardless. And that is not me saying if your parents are well off you should never have to pay, just that they may not need or want the money and would prefer to have their kids living with them as a family.

I also have to agree with fox about knowing what the consequences of bringing kids into this world are, and although im not a parent my mum has said the same thing that she would never ask me to pay anything as she brought me into this world and wants us to remain a close family (and Im not saying that if you charge your kids board you arent a close family, thats just what my mum says). This is the view im going to take when I have children as I believe you have a duty to them their whole lives, and I would hope that their decent upbringing would lead them to offer contributions if they knew I was struggling financially not me having to "demand".
 
I live here, I use the electric, I use the heat, I use the internet and I eat the food.

I happily pay my parents £250 a month, and they in turn are happy with that.
 
DB_SamX said:
Yes, it is. And if it's you opinion that kids should start paying rent once they hit 16 or whenever childhood ends, so be it. I was not brought up that up and I wouldn't bring mine up as such. And you must have glanced over the part which said that I do still willingly contribute towards household costs despite not being asked to. It's up to the kids and if they are brought up well, they will work out for themselves when they should contribute. Parents should not have kids if they EXPECT them to start paying rent & food as soon as they hit 16;what if the kids are in a medical position that they cannot work, do the latter get kicked out?
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When they hit 16? Why on earth would they start paying rent at 16 and where on earth did I say that this was the end of their childhood? Stop making things up mate. :)

My kids won't be dropouts, they will be continuing full-time education until such time as they can support themselves, and while they are in full-time education I will not expect a penny off of them as I will be the one funding the vast majority of it. What I clearly said was that any adult earning a FULL WAGE should pay a monthly contribution to heir household. Understand now? :)

blackapache said:
I do agree with what people have been saying about paying board if your parents arent in the financial situation to support you, and of course I would do the same, however I dont think it is fair for everyone to assume that is a complete requirement to do so.
There are parents in all sorts of different financial situations, some very wealthy some not. I dont not believe that if someone has well off parents (and that is not the childs fault may I add) they should fall within this category that many people seem to have a view of here that everyone should pay board regardless. And that is not me saying if your parents are well off you should never have to pay, just that they may not need or want the money and would prefer to have their kids living with them as a family.

I also have to agree with fox about knowing what the consequences of bringing kids into this world are, and although im not a parent my mum has said the same thing that she would never ask me to pay anything as she brought me into this world and wants us to remain a close family (and Im not saying that if you charge your kids board you arent a close family, thats just what my mum says). This is the view im going to take when I have children as I believe you have a duty to them their whole lives, and I would hope that their decent upbringing would lead them to offer contributions if they knew I was struggling financially not me having to "demand".
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My dad is what many would consider wealthy... but he wants me to pay board to show i'm a man with some degree of independancy. How can you be proud of a son or daughter that continues to sponge off of you until long after they reach adulthood and while earning a proper wage? It would be frankly embarassing and somewhat shaming not to be paying anything while I have the means to. It's not just the money it's the principle.
 
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Personally I won't charge my daughter a penny as long as she's in full time education, I see that as part of the choice we made when we decided to have a child. At whatever point she leaves education and/or begins to earn a wage we'll discuss what she's going to contribute.

The 'rent' will end up in a savings account going towards her first place to furnish/renovate it but i'm not so sure about handing it over to give her a deposit, i'd rather she learnt about the sacrafices needed to save a deposit for her own place rather than just be given it.

So yes if they're earning then £45 sounds quite reasonable per week.
 
Avalon said:
Personally I won't charge my daughter a penny as long as she's in full time education, I see that as part of the choice we made when we decided to have a child. At whatever point she leaves education and/or begins to earn a wage we'll discuss what she's going to contribute.
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Is how I see it, once your done learning and start earning, its time to start putting money in the kitty.
 
Richdog said:
When they hit 16? Why on earth would they start paying rent at 16 and where on earth did I say that this was the end of their childhood? Stop making things up mate. :)
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I haven't made anything up; I just missed the part where you said "long after childhood ends". I still stand by my point though.
 
Marf said:
What a lot of my friends parents did in this situation was take say £200 a month off them, stick it in a savings account(without them knowing) and then give it to them when they came to buy a house for deposit/furniture/decorating money.
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That is actually a really good idea. Hmmm.
 
I pay £200 quid a month + I pay for Virgin TV and internet.
My brother pays for Be* internet.
My sister pays the phone line (which we don't really use) and other small bills.

We live in a council flat and the only bills that my mum and dad have to pay is the electricity and food shopping.

How much should we charge them for rent?
 
I currently pay £100 a month to my mam, I will pay more when I earn more, I can't move out at the minute I will likely move out after I've started and finished my degree.
 
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