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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

One at Uni, one at work…

937 replies

BelleClapper · 20/05/2021 12:23

How do you square this without causing resentment?

Dd (17) is working full time on an apprenticeship course. We are charging her rent/keep/petrol equivalent to 25% of her take home.

DS (18) up until now was planning to leave college and get a job. He announced yesterday that he is now accepting the three University offers he got a while back. As an aside he’s just split up with his GF of two years who was absolutely definitely in no way the reason he wasn’t going…

So we will be in a position of taking money from DD and sending money to DS. Which has totally changed the dynamic. I’m really conscious of causing resentment from DD who already suffers a bit with middle child syndrome and jealousy.

If you’ve been in this situation what did you do? I want DD to contribute for lots of reasons, none of which go away just because DS now needs three more years of support.

OP posts:
Funkyfuno · 26/05/2021 21:58

"There will be others who are entitled, lazy, selfish or irresponsible, I suspect that these two groups will be divided by the bonds with their parents, the self respect and independence they were taught and the love, affection and happiness contained in their homes"

Sure @pagwatch, it is complicated. But we're in a thread being given partial visibility into someone's life. Obviously comments and comparatives here are based on an assumption of "all else being equal" (all moderating factors surrounding how one is raised and experienced) Sorry if my post has felt unpleasant to you. I'm speaking from an honest place. OP in real life probably would get the hidden judgement and not the honest talk. It's better that if she asks opinions, she gets honest ones (though she no longer wants them I guess by the defensive look of her latest posts, but anyway)

Pagwatch · 26/05/2021 22:00

Good lord FunkyFuno

I’m not sure being around humourless sanctimony is less damaging to a child than asking them to contribute to the homes bills

Pagwatch · 26/05/2021 22:07

That’s not what you’re doing though Funky

You’ve decided that she’s wrong and therefore cruel and money grabbing etc etc because she’s dealing with her children differently to how you chose for yours

There’s no justification for pretending that ‘all things are equal’. Threads usually only give a snapshot and certainly I haven’t seen posts asking about the overall health of the ops relationship with her dd or any suggestions that this is anything other than a loving homec
So references to money grabbing are pretty foul.
It’s all just attempts to vindicate what much of this thread had been - thoroughly enjoying creating Dickensian scenarios and portray the op as a terrible mother
The truth is we all try to get this stuff right and the most loudly confident in their choices have usually got it wrong. If you’re confident then you rarely need to beat up strangers who make different decisions on the internetv

Eatdrinkbemerry · 26/05/2021 22:13

What @Pagwatch said.

You can’t say you’re giving an opinion and then say the OP is wrong. GrinGrinGrin

Funkyfuno · 26/05/2021 22:24

Hmm.. Don't think I've been talking about "Dickensian scenarios" or "money grabbing" . Giving an honest opinion does not make "humourless sanctimony" :D sorry,but look who's exaggerating now?

Anyway, yep I do think op is wrong in charging a 17 year old who's starting her life.My opinion is based on the partial info I've gotten from the thread. There might be other factors. There may not be. Given neither you nor I know the full intent and story, we're both entitled to what we think. Bye now.

Fr0thandBubble · 26/05/2021 23:48

I wouldn’t charge my DC rent. I would tell them to hand over X amount every month and tell them it’s going in a savings account for them for a deposit for a house.

But to profit from them living with me and for them to feel like they are a lodger in their own home? No, I couldn’t do that. Not at any age and certainly not at 17 - she’s still a child.

Rosewood017 · 27/05/2021 00:05

I wouldn't charge my DC rent. If I did, it would go into a savings account for them to use towards a deposit later on, as suggested by others.

If my parents had charged me rent I would never have been able to save and be where I am now.

subbysammiexoxo · 27/05/2021 02:30

I am eldest of five siblings and parents earn a decent wage I have paid my own way through a stem degree at uni, got a higher maintenance loan and then worked part time the first 2 years just finished years 3 of 4 working at least 20 hours a week with a first going into final year doing an internship alongside finishing to improve employability prospects after. By all means if you have to help with the rent difference and set him up for 6 weeks but he should be saving now to go and gain work while there

subbysammiexoxo · 27/05/2021 02:34

Also, you guys don't know if a parent had previously relied on child credits to top up the difference and now the daughter is working they lose that, nothing wrong with the daughter paying 40 pound a week towards bills and shopping if she's completing her apprenticeship training with money in the bank each month and a house to live at with food, she will be in a far better position than the brother.

BelleClapper · 27/05/2021 06:51

So we’ve lost child benefit for her of course, which DH pays back through tax every year, but I physically get. So that’s £80 a month or so that we’ve lost (tax code won’t be adjusted until next year).

Obviously we pay for all her packed lunches, food at home, basic toiletries, any meals out or holidays or takeaways or things like that.

Then the £100+ pm petrol and her £25 phone. Oh also her £10pm iPad that was bought for college (now used for apprenticeship modules).

So we’re not grabbing money from her for no reason. There’s no profit! She is making a contribution. And she still has more money in her pocket than any of the rest of us in the house.

It’s not as simple as saying if we don’t need the money we shouldn’t take it. There’s different levels of need and frankly I don’t see why we should reduce our family income/add to outgoings to the tune of more than £250 a month when dd is willing and capable of contributing.

I don’t think that’s materialistic or grabby, just practical.

OP posts:
Holly60 · 27/05/2021 07:01

How about you give them both the same amount of money and then you take back the rent etc from DD. They start with the same amount each month/ term and then have to budget for all their expenses. You could sit with them both and work out what they need to pay for so that they can both see it is a fair way of doing it.

Mummadeze · 27/05/2021 07:16

My parents have helped me or my sister differently at different points in our lives. They paid for her wedding for example, but because I was hard up when I had my first child (and am not married), they bought me all the things I needed for the nursery. They also helped us both out at other life stages when we needed it, but at different times. They told me when they were helping her and just said it will all balance out and it more than has. Maybe your kids will understand their situations are different at the moment and probably will be again. Because I know my parents are generous and fair I would never have questioned their reasoning. Plus it is essentially their money for them to give out or not as they deem best.

BelleClapper · 27/05/2021 07:24

@Holly60

How about you give them both the same amount of money and then you take back the rent etc from DD. They start with the same amount each month/ term and then have to budget for all their expenses. You could sit with them both and work out what they need to pay for so that they can both see it is a fair way of doing it.
I don’t understand what you mean at all.

Give DS 12k a year to have the same as DD? Or top his loan up to 12k and then take the same amount from DD that DS pays for halls/food (£200 a week)?

Neither way is fair, or feasible. Their situations are (will be) WILDLY different.

DD is paying a bit of keep and walking around with £750pm in her pocket for fun stuff.

DS will be working PT to pay for food and socialising and we will likely top up the amount of rent due for halls that isn’t covered by his loan. He will have fuck all to spend in comparison.

That, by the way, is the reason I posted. Because I hadn’t thought further than taking from one while giving to the other. And helpful pp that have actually done it helped me break it down. That’s not the same as ignoring the other posts, I was never asking for advice on what to do, I was asking for advice on how to square it.

OP posts:
AbsolutelyPatsy · 27/05/2021 07:54

op i have one at uni, i am unable to support as such, but she gets a loan, one living at home and working and one moved home after uni, it took a pandemic to bring her home,
i drive her to and from work three days a week,she pays me the minimum, petrol money, as she has plans to be gone in the autumn! and is saving
my ds at home pays rent but until this thread i hadnt even thought he might grumble about it. Shrugs,
the finance is a private matter, let it stay that way imo

AbsolutelyPatsy · 27/05/2021 07:55

i am glad there have been helpful people on this thread op to make you break it down, just ignore the unhelpful posts, i would

BeyondMyWits · 27/05/2021 08:21

In our house anyone who lives there contributes to the running of it. If you are working, you pay towards the bills, if not you help maintain a pleasant environment. Washing up, laundry, cleaning bathroom/kitchen, hoovering, gardening etc. It is "our" home... not just mine.

I have one at uni. We pay her rent. She lives on the (minimum) maintenance loan. Pays her own bills and food and books and travel etc.

When she was working and living in the same place for a year, before uni, she paid her own rent.

Our other is off to uni in Sept. She is working right now and contributes to food and bills at home. We will pay her rent at uni, she will pay the rest, like her sister.

We will be paying twice the amount for her rent as she will be in halls, her sister is sharing a flat.

No one is whinging that "she gets more" or nobody else has to pay etc, because they know how much life costs and we try to equalise everything ... not in actual monetary figures to the penny, but in general.

Belladonna12 · 27/05/2021 09:39

@BelleClapper

I have no idea. I don’t have a crystal ball.

She has chosen to leave education and start work though, with the full knowledge that that would mean starting to contribute financially. Nothing has been decided without her input.

She made that decision the child though and won't necessarily have understood the inequality with regard to how you are treating her compared with her DS. That doesn't mean she won't get it in the future though. When her brother is earning a lot more than her she may reflect on the fact that you gave him money as a young adult whereas you took it from her .Given that you were posting initially about be worried about her being resentful I don't know why you would be more careful to treat them as equally as possible.
Funkyfuno · 27/05/2021 10:18

Op just the fact that you're talking about a £10pm tablet charge to justify your charging your kid as lodger to live at her home, without actually putting the money in a savings account for her future makes me think that either you're in financial trouble, or materialistic (not "practical" as you put) . And holidays?! I mean, kids go on holidays with parents. Do you realise you're a family unit? Or do you think when kids are grown up to become teenagers, they aren't anymore automatically entitled to be in your holidays? Did you calculate your spenditure in the same way when they were 12? 15? I'm trying to figure out whether my horror at this thinking is cultural (I'm from South Europe, where this way of thinking would be shocking). Maybe not though given so many others have also thought so...

BelleClapper · 27/05/2021 14:05

If you can’t see the difference between a 12yo and a 17yo earning a full time wage then I can’t help you.

Also my point about holidays is that DD wants to come and DS doesn’t. Should be putting £600 in his account to make up for not going?

OP posts:
Catcatcat1 · 27/05/2021 14:31

I believe that the best plan could be treat them both like adults and explain your plan to both of them in person. See what their opinions are on the matter. Perhaps your ds could get a part time job whilst at university to help pay his way?

tigertreats · 27/05/2021 14:35

Presumably the option to stay in non paid education was open to both of them? If so I think the situation you have is perfect. You're worrying unnecessarily. You can't make everything exactly even - one of them will earn more one day, one may have a happier relationship etc . Your choices have been based on what's good for them and I don't think you need to change you sound like a great parent Grin

abstractprojection · 28/05/2021 00:42

Will your DS be living at home or away for Uni? If away then they are paying rent just to someone else

13ighanne · 31/05/2021 18:27

I’m the older daughter in a very similar situation. I went to Uni at 18, my sister stayed with my parents and did an apprenticeship. Like you, my parents charged my sister rent and sent me money, for very much the same reason: they wanted to teach us responsibility with money but also wanted to support us.

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable but I do think you need to be careful about how you do this and the message you send. Your son has rent and bills to pay, your daughter is also being told she must pay rent and bills, all fair. However, I think some of what you have said raised red flags for me:
1: your daughter is 17, you have not mentioned anything about charging either of them rent in the past, did you not charge your son rent while he lived with you and went to college? Did he work? If he was allowed to live with you without paying rent until 18, regardless of his working situation, I think if I were either of your other children I would resent being charged rent before then and may well feel punished for not going to college/Uni.
2: you have said you are going to support your son and “hopefully” he will get a job, which suggests that you are putting a near unlimited and unequal financial support system in place for your son, which won’t teach him a work ethic or financial responsibility and could definitely cause resentment

Here is my suggestion:
1: unless you did charge your son rent at 17, I would suggest saying to your daughter and youngest child that they will not be charged rent until the September after they turn 18, this is then equal to what you provided your eldest child.

2: However, your initial discussion with your daughter was very fair, which was that she could do with learning some financial responsibility, etc, so I would suggest to her that she sends you money each month that you save for her, or set up a no withdrawal ISA for her, so that while she’s earning but under 18, she is still learning financial responsibility.

3: Limit your financial support to your son, and make it clear to all your children that this is what they would get when they leave. I would suggest £100 or £200 a month, for example, which should cover the rest of his rent, and expect him to get a job to make up the rest. Uni towns have plenty of places for students to work and students have a lot of time to work - I worked 4 days a week at McDonalds when I was at Uni and it honestly prepared me better for working as an adult than Uni did! This way you are also teaching him financial responsibility and making sure he develops a CV and workplace skills, and setting a clear expectation for your youngest child as to what their future could look like either way.

4: finally, make it clear that when he moves home (summers and after Uni) he will be expected to pay you rent as well. That way, there can be no resentment from your other children and instead you have made clear and fair rules for your household: live with me and pay rent, go to Uni and we will give you some support but you must also support yourself.

As a final thought - I discovered when I turned 30 and was no longer living at home that part of the rent my parents charged me (both my sister and I paid rent from the age of 16, and we both lived at home for some parts of our 20s and paid rent then), went into a savings account for me, so when I buy a house I already have a lump sum. I never knew at the time of course so the financial lessons were well learned! I’m not saying you should do that, but my sister and I felt really supported and it’s unbelievably wonderful to know now that I have some money for that.

samanthafortin · 02/06/2021 15:09

You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself for this. Taking money from your younger daughter to support your older son? Regardless of her wage, she doesn’t owe you anything and that’s her hard earned money! Parents cannot charge their children for living with them! Children don’t have a choice! Shame on you and I feel horribly for your children. Some people should never have become parents, you’re those people.

BelleClapper · 02/06/2021 15:20

Calm down dear.

OP posts:
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