Step daughter phone contract

[Shibby585]

Hi all, just wondering how you would approach this and what is fair. My step daughter is 17 and coming up 18 in October. She is in her first year at college and by October will be in her second year.

Her dad pays for her phone contract for her, it's an iPhone but he gets discount on it, it's usually her Christmas and birthday present and we get smaller presents for her too. This year we paid for driving lessons as she has had the contract for almost 2 years.

He previously the same for his step son who is the older of the two (his ex wife's son) and then when his step son turned 18 he changed the contract into sim only in his name and it was his responsibility.

When SD turns 18 and the contract ends he will also be changing it to a sim only. The only question is - she is currently in college for 2.5 days a week but has no drive to get a job. If it was changed into her name, short of her mum paying it she would have no way to pay the phone bill.

Step son had a full time job at 18 so it wasn't a problem. My question is what is fair in this situation would you keep paying for SD phone on a sim only until she finishes college or transfer it as her responsibility as soon as she turns 18?

I started my own contract at 18 but I had a weekend job which SD does not have.

As she is still in education, I'd pay.

I'd expect someone of 18 to finance their own phone bill TBH, especially since she has 4.5 days out of the week to herself, and I doubt that additional studies for college take up that much time. For £10/month you can get about 10G of data so she doesn't need to be working all hours.
She has an iphone for the handset so she's not exactly missing out!

Maybe the need to pay for her phone contract will make getting a job seem more attractive. She'll get a SIM only deal for a few pounds month.

Alternatively, maybe her dad can continue to pay for a v cheap SIM and if she wants more then she can work for it.

We expect to pay all of the normal expenses as long as the kids are in college, and graduate or professional school. We have no expectations of or objection to them working part-time, but we do expect doing well in school to be the top priority.

They know that their ability to live a financially comfortable life as an adult will be tied significantly to their performance in the world of work. That responsibility will come to them soon enough; we feel that we do not need to add unnecessary financial expenses to them when their focus should be on studies.

If they can do well in their studies while working, we certainly won't object to their doing so, but we do not want them to feel that they need to work while they are in college. Should they decide to interrupt the educational process, we would expect them to work full-time and to assume responsibility for their own upkeep.

I’d just pay for a basic sim if she’s in education, a cheap one is about £6-7. If she wants more she can get a job.

@CeeceeBloomingdale

I’d just pay for a basic sim if she’s in education, a cheap one is about £6-7. If she wants more she can get a job.

Yep, this sounds sensible.

We have two over 18 (18/20)and in full time education but we pay their phone bills as part of a family sharing package. They both work but their wages are very low, so I’m happy to pay it.

SIM only is about a tenner isnt it? I'd keep paying through college / uni.

Thanks everyone that's what we were thinking, just move her to a sim only and pay it as she is still studying and has no income herself. if she wants another phone upgrade then she will need to get a job to pay for it herself.

Her brother was a totally different situation as he was working full time, we wouldn't carry on paying for it in university, but we have considered what money she will get directly off us if needed to help her at university which indirectly will pay the phone bill.

Although on the flip side I'm not sure if carrying paying the phone bill would make her want to get a job, she is obviously by no means obligated as she is studying, but she has a lot of days free and this would then pay her phone and her driving lessons. I had a job since 16 and two at 18 so can't quite grasp why she wouldn't want a little disposable income of her own, but that's just me :)

Switch to sim only and pay for it still.
She has no income and she’s still studying.

@BeHappy91818

Switch to sim only and pay for it still. She has no income and she’s still studying.

She has plenty of time to get an income.

I'd do something like pay half while she's studying.