Young Australians staying at home for longer as cost of living bites

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Should teenagers have to pay board to their parents? It's a question more people are asking with the rising cost of living. And while for some families it's about helping to pay household bills, for others it's about teaching young people how to save and budget.

Transcript

00:00My parents bought their house at a time where houses cost about 50 cents and a

00:06packet of chips, so no, I didn't have to pay board. I did do the dishes like once

00:11a year, so I think that helped out a little bit as well. But what we're

00:15finding is that a lot of young Australians are staying at home a lot

00:19longer, you know, further into their 20s they're living at home with their

00:23parents and at a time where cost of living is, you know, going through the

00:28roof and those sorts of things, there are extra financial pressures on parents

00:32but also on young people, hence why they're staying at home. And a lot of, you

00:37know, parents and people are asking the question, when is the right time to pay

00:41board? You know, is the teenager, is the young adult earning a living? Can

00:46they help out around the house? Do the parents need them to help out around the

00:49house? These are the sorts of questions that are being asked and we asked people

00:52out on the streets what they thought. I think cost of living has like

00:57increased a lot, so it's very difficult to go out on your own. I think it really

01:02depends on the situation, like whether the parents are making them enough money

01:06or if the children actually have a job that can sustain and support them like

01:11that. Like if they're working full-time I'd expect them to pay board at a

01:15certain age, like maybe above 21. I mean to an extent it can be like good, it can

01:20be like teacher, you know, teaching you for the real world but I'm kind of biased

01:23because I don't really want to pay rent to my parents. If my kids are

01:27living under my roof I think it's my responsibility to provide for them but

01:30if I did take board maybe I'd put in a savings account for them or something. If

01:35your child is like viable and earning money then it's like fair to ask them to

01:38trip in a bit. How would you feel if you had to start paying board? Oh I'd feel

01:44poor. Yeah I don't feel I'd have that much money left. You wouldn't? Nah. I think it's all

01:49about having a discussion as a family, you know, take into consideration is your

01:55teenager, is your child earning enough to be able to chip in and help out

01:59around the family. If they're not working full-time, if they're still studying, are

02:03there different things around the house that can, you know, ease the burden in a

02:07little way, you know, help out with the household chores. We spoke to some people

02:10within the story and they said look we're not making our daughter pay board

02:15at the moment but what we are doing is making sure she chips in around the

02:19house. But the other thing a lot of people spoke about is that it teaches

02:23kids and it teaches teenagers and young adults good financial literacy. So I

02:28think one of the answers that we had for Voxy's is that although I wouldn't make

02:33my child pay board, maybe I would make them chip in a little bit and put it

02:37into a savings account and teach them good financial literacy. So there are

02:41lots of different reasons why it might be a good idea to pay board.

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