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Covid brought three of our grown children back home and we had to come up with a major home renovation project to convince them to go out into the wider world. As some of Sue Elliott-Nicholls’ interviewees (My two grown children had to return home. Should I charge them rent – and if so, how much?, May 4), I love them very much and am grateful for the extra time we had as a family, but I didn’t think twice about asking them to contribute to the household – financially and with chores.
Between four adults (three in Bristol and one in London), our children pay more than £4,400 a month in housing costs. There probably won’t be any home buying for them unless we sell and downsize and hand over our equity to the baby boomers – or they get incredibly high wages. More research into the likelihood of the latter would be gratefully received as we have a lot of travel in mind for our retirement and can handle the money.
Charlotte Jones
Compton Dundon, Somerset
Sue Elliott-Nicholls asks how much rent she should charge her two grown children. First, they should immediately offer what they can afford without waiting to be asked. Second, the amount they pay should be based (if possible) on covering the costs of food, additional heating and the like. It may vary if their income varies. She is definitely not out to win. Allowing them free food plus lodging is infantilizing them.
John Hunter
Holmes Chapel, Cheshire
Mrs Elliott-Nicholls must surely be charging her grown children for their accommodation.
My wife and I have three grown children. When they were teenagers in high school and college with part-time jobs, we charged each of them 10% of their take-home pay. This has given all three of them a much better sense of financial responsibility. None of them went to university, but each has a stable job, no debt (except mortgages) and own home.
Jeff Smith
Endon, Staffordshire
Of course, adults have to pay their own way. What message are you giving them otherwise? My parents, living a comfortable life, charged me a third of my take-home pay; I did the same with my kids at their first job out of college. You can treat them with other things, but treat them like adults too.
Sally Bates
Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire
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