Working children living at home

[mumsgoingtouni]

My son has just started working on a 24 hour part time contract but has been covering others so has been doing 40 hours a week. He's only just over minimum wage at the moment and will get a raise after three months. I've said he can keep all his wages for the first month to give him a headstart to buy clothes etc he needs for work but we need to work out how much rent he should pay after that. I'm thinking 20% but dh says he used to give his mum half his money!

So, can I ask, what's the going rate, percentage wise, for working children living at home?

Mine pay £150 each, plus a share of the council tax - I provide food for evening meals if we are eating together - they buy their own lunch materials and any luxuries (usually drinks)
We all share household chores

On these threads, I often think the answer is influenced by what your dc is like with money.
My ds just spends any money he has and some he doesn't have, so, quite frankly, it makes a lot of sense to continue to help him in terms of budgeting etc, to take a realistic amount off him if he lived at home, so he gets a "feel" for what he has to spend on himself.
dd OTOH is far more tight sensible with money. I'd be more than happy to take a much smaller amount off her, as I know she'd actually be saving a high % of it anyhow, so it would be fairly irrelevant if it's her saving it or me saving it for her.

Obviously, I wouldn't do differently from the other one now - I'd have to decide what was sensible if either of them come home to live once working but if I only had one or the other of them, my answer would be different.

I disagree that by not taking money off your kids they are likely to stay longer.
I'm from a household of high earning parents who completely looked after me, I left home at 22, emigrated and worked in a low income job.
I'm now 25 and have purchased my own place in London. I don't take/get a penny off my parents.

You were obviously motivated to find your own way in the world though mountain. Plenty aren't. Ime it's the girls who seem to actively want to leave home too.

I have younger kids, but my plan is (as others said) to take about 25%. But assuming we are in the same financial situation and don't need the cash, will save at least half of it for when they move out.

I'd say 1/3 to 25%, taking half his income to e is just not right! In fact I feel quiet strongly that it's wrong. Half his income on a paltry NMW income is not a lot in my opinion.

*wrong in my opinion not a lot

Actually once mine got to a certain age (ie mature enough not to blow it all on crap) I stopped taking rent from them on the proviso that they put that much away every month. It is the only way the oldest two have been able to afford their own places.

I still have two at home and i have made it clear that I am expecting them to be gone by the time me and their dad retire!

I got my first job at 17 whilst in college and was earning under £500 a month with p/t hours. I had to pay £100 a month. One of my friends works 32 hours a week taking home around 1k and doesn't pay a penny at home

My dd is off to uni in 2 weeks and knows that in the summer holidays she will be expected to contribute to the food bill.

Rather than taking the money and saving it yourself, as has been suggested, it might be more transparent to come to an agreement that you won't charge rent on the condition that your adult offspring sets up a standing order into a savings account (one he can't get instant access to).

I think the very least that an adult member of the household should contribute is the variable cost of them living there ie food, a share of utilities, a contribution to wear and tear.

My mother paid a small amount of rent to her parents when she was working and living at home. She had no idea they were saving every penny of it in a high interest account. When she got married, they gave it all back to her as a wedding present. (If she hadn't got married, they would have given it to her on a certain birthday.)

Not an option for everyone, of course, but if the payment is more to teach young adults the value of money and the need for independence rather than because the parents genuinely need it, it's a nice idea.

I paid my parents about a 3rd of my income. Without telling me, Mum put it in a savings account for me, so when I needed a car, the money was there. She is awesome.