Reply To: Charging Your Child Rent

[jennifer]

Lots of very generous people on this thread!

I am not a parent, but if she’s on minimum wage or above, I would charge the normal going rate for lodgings (round here that’s £450pcm including bills) or if it’s less than that, a proportion – 1/3 or 1/4 of her wage. I would save at least half of it for her for a future deposit.

If you charge too little, there is absolutely no incentive for her to leave, and she’ll find it difficult to make the leap financially when she wants to go. A roof over your head, bills paid, and food need to be the priorities, and everyone needs to learn that – you certainly shouldn’t be subsidising nights out, booze, squillions of clothes, treats etc by charging her a lower rent, and in the long term I don’t think you’re doing her a favour.

I wouldn’t touch her room, but I would require her to do a fair share of the housework (hoovering, washing up, taking the bins out) and hopefully the message might sink in. And I love the idea of the Wi-Fi code to make sure housework gets done!

I might also share an honest rundown of just how much it costs to live …