Sharing a room is a 'sign of poverty'?

It’s clearly not a sign of poverty if you have enough space but are choosing to have same sex DC sharing for practical reasons - particularly not since they’re very young and have no concept of personal space or privacy, and presumably only use their bedroom to sleep in. Having three or more older children sharing a room I suspect most people would acknowledge is unlikely to be something done through choice and yes, is probably a sign of financial constraint.

Everyone will have different opinions & ideas of the life they envisage. Plenty of people would not like my 800k terrace in London & would move further out for a big house but that would be hell for me, neither of us are wrong just different likes & wants.

Very much depends on where you live tbh. With London rents etc I would imagine it's pretty normal. Probably easier to get more bedroom space if you live in Doncaster...

You do what suits you and your family.

Of course children sharing a room is not a sign of poverty. And even if a lot of people do have to have their children sharing rooms because they can't afford a bigger home what right has she to sit in judgement on them?
A lot of people are poor. That doesn't make them lesser human beings to be looked down on.

A close friend has said that sharing a room as children is a sign of poverty.

It is a sign when the children are opposite sex and teenagers, or any sex and wide age gap- say a 3yr old and a 12yr old, or more than 2 children sharing a room.

A baby and a toddler sharing a double bedroom isn’t what people mean when they talk about children sharing a room being a sign of poverty.

Finally a sign of poverty means it is one of many signs needed to determine poverty. Other signs are food insecurity, fuel insecurity, joblessness, disability, etc. By itself, it isn’t enough to determine poverty.

I think it totally depends on context. If you live in central London you might be well-off but only have a small property. However, it seems crazy to keep a room for guests who are only there occasionally rather than let your own DC have the space. Maybe ok while.they are very small but I wouldn't expect them to share once they start school if you have another room. Just get them to share on occasions when you have people staying.

Well our income is around 220k and our kids share a room. We‘re by no means poor. If I thought so I would be an idiot.
Your friend is being very silly indeed if she thinks this is an indicator of poverty.

It's not what I'd choose myself but I don't get why anyone would offer an unsolicited opinion on this. Besides if the room sharing doesn't work out later on then you just move one to the spare room and reconsider your housing options. It's not like it's set in stone.

I think any more than two sharing can be a sign of poverty.

People used to have more dc than today & houses haven’t got bigger so did we all grow up in poverty?

I wouldn't say "poverty" but it's not what I would choose. And I find the idea of having your kids share when you have a spare room quite odd TBH.

It will depend on your kids but I think ours are much happier in separate rooms:

1. they can have different sleep schedules - my older one likes to read for a couple of hours at night which would disturb the younger one who goes to bed earlier. The younger one gets up early and would disturb the other one.

2. they have their own space from each other. They get on really well but not having their own space would make them really unhappy.

3. when they get to an age where they have friends over, sleepovers etc, they will need their own space

4. these days not many kids leave home at 18, as young adults they won't be that keen to share

Yabu.... can't believe you'd have your DC share a room just so you can have a guest room.

my spare room is a dumping ground currently

Sounds like absolute rubbish to me. Separate bedrooms are lovely, but I can't imagine people having a stable, mortgage free home being considered impoverished 😳.

My parents were both doctors, so definitely not poor. I shared a room with my DSis as my grandfather lived with us.

Tell her to mind her own business. It won't be her paying your mortgage!!!

Wow not anywhere near a sign of poverty.
How privileged and out of touch with reality your friend must be.

Yabu.... can't believe you'd have your DC share a room just so you can have a guest room.

Your friends comment is irrelevant. Your DC can have a room each...you are just choosing to prioritise guests.

I grew up in a large 5 bed & shared out of choice. Now have a 3 bed worth about 800k & dc share currently. I think if I claimed poverty I would be chastised?

Your dc are tiny. I’ve found that teens really do need their own space. Little ones like sharing! But as you’ll have 3 bedrooms, there will be enough rooms anyway? You’ll likely just not have a spare room when they’re older?

That idea is crazy.

My kids have always shared a room at some point. I have four kids, and four bedrooms, someone has to share. Over the years it's varied, most recently my eldest (teenager) shared with my youngest (age 6).

Now that eldest is in her own place the others all have their own rooms for the first time.

We are pretty solidly middle class, and are by no means poor.