Should parents charge their kids rent?
There’s a lot of discourse out there about teens. When should they stop being kids? Move out? Start paying bills? One Texas couple has the internet divided after revealing that, as soon as their 18-year-old daughter graduated from high school, they started charging her rent to keep living at home.
“Y’all tell us: Do you make your graduated high school student pay rent in your house if they aren’t going to college yet? Tell us what you think,” mom Erika Archie asks in the video, which has been viewed tens of thousands of times on TikTok. The couple explains that their daughter Kylee has graduated from high school but decided not to go to college right away, so they’re charging her rent to live at home while she works as a clerk and decides her next steps.
@bar7ranch How do you feel about making your adult children pay rent to live at home? This is a REPOST from last year but since its on Fox Business News right now we thought we’d chat about it again! #Parenting #ParentsChargingRent #AdultChildren #DryHumor #Sarcasm #MarriageHumor #Marriage #CoupleTok #RanchTok #AgTok #KeepRanchin #KingOfTikTok #RanchLife #Ranch
♬ original sound – Bar 7 Ranch
Her husband, Cody Archie, weighs in, “My thought is that since Kylee graduated a couple weeks ago, I told her—and I’ve been telling her the last couple months—June 1st, rent is due if you’re going to continue to live here.”
At that, Erika laughs and says, “I thought that was a little harsh. I mean, maybe a little leeway.”
Cody counters, saying. “$200 a month is plenty cheap to live like a grub in your parents’ house.”
They point out that the rent they’re charging Kylee is less than what they spend on groceries to feed her, but then Cody clarifies that they’re actually charging $300 a month “if she wants to eat from the fridge.”
In the comments, parents were torn over whether this was a valuable lesson, or if these parents were being too hard on a teen who just wants to take some time to figure out the next steps in her life.
“Yes, great idea. Teaches them to pay bills,” one wrote. Another added, “Builds character (and) makes them responsible.”
One particularly creative parent commented, “Yes! We gave my oldest son a tent and sleeping bag at the age of 18,” which, good lord, if that isn’t a way to make sure your kid never depends on you for anything.
Many other parents criticized the Archies.
“A definite no for me. I know it’s rare but I will forever help my kids no matter the age,” one wrote. Another said, “It would be different if I needed the help but 18 is not an adult!”
The detractors have a point. Eighteen may mean you’re a “legal” adult, but come on. We all remember being 18. At that age, you have approximately nothing figured out. It’s honestly insane that our society expects all 18-year-olds to know what they want to do after high school—by allowing them to take a bit more time to think about it, we’d probably see happier adults and better college success rates.
And sure, $200 is way below the market rate for rent anywhere in the U.S. But that kind of supports the arguments against this. The generation that’s just reaching adulthood has all the cards stacked against them. The cost of living has rapidly outpaced wage growth. So many Americans (of all ages) live paycheck-to-paycheck and struggle to afford even basic necessities. Is taking money out of your own daughter’s pocket when she’s just trying to get started in life really helping her?
In an interview with Today, the Archies revealed that Kylee has since moved out of their house and now lives with relatives where she “pays” rent by babysitting their kids.
