Poll: Should parents have to pay back their kids

[Epicspoon]

You were their fault so they were obligated to raise you and pay for you along the way - That doesn't mean you owe them.

well now. that was very insightful. here have an internet.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Well for starters start hiding your cash man. Stealing is stealing and not right, and since your earning this money on your own it's all the more wrong. And they really should pay back what they borrow. Your just an interest free bank if you lend to the folks, you don't want anymore, but you still want the original amount.

 

[Alleged_Alec]

SNIP

I'm guessing that either your still a kid living at home or you've never done a hard day of work with your Mum / Dad in your life.

Quite an assumption. I'm twenty, study biology (40 hours/week) and I work evening shifts four nights per week (20 - 25 hours/week). In my holidays, I work at least three/four weeks full-time. Only think you're right about is me still living at home, but only because living on my own would be impossible because rooms in/near Utrecht (where my university's located) cost in the region of 400-500 euros or more. Quite hard for a student to afford that.

Doing work for the family isn't child labour. I've had to do gardening, build brick walls, fix wiring, dig trenches for pipes, build furniture, move furniture, etc all in the name of the family. I sure as hell didn't want to do it but I still did it for the family. That isn't child labour.

This is different from what I mentioned about having to hand in your own money.

As for paying money to your family from your job? See previous point.

I'd say this is child labour, or at least disgusting behaviour.

Doesn't matter if it's blackmail or not.

Except that it does. If parents start using emotional blackmailing to make you do stuff, they've practically failed as a parent.

If your folks need it to live then you give it to them.

If they need my salary to survive, or rather: some teen's salary (I'm not sure if I'm a good example here, being (technically) an adult), ie: a hundred euro's per month max to survive, they have other issues. It's not hard to make enough money to be able to sustain yourself when working full-time. If you can't, you're probably on grant. There's no reason to take you child's money.

You DO owe them.

I do, but I think it's a very American idea that owing them is always about money.

 

[cobra_ky]

if your parents feel like you owe them money, they should stop buying things for you and ask you to pay your own way. stealing from your children is unconscionable.

 

[teqrevisited]

Mm. That sounds a lot like thieving. There are a lot of conditions that affect the borrowing of things. Generally if someone doesn't ask, it is stealing. If they ask to borrow and intentionally don't pay it back, it is stealing. If they simply forget and pay you back when reminded, all's good.

Other things like financial troubles etc can also sometimes affect it and is usually something that cannot be avoided by the borrower. I have, for example, in the past contributed £400 of my own money so that we could move house. At the time, money was short so I didn't expect it back. Besides, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than having my own place.

 

[Sporky111]

Putting aside the antiquated "power over your children" idea, why should a parent have a right to whatever their child has? He worked for that money, he earned it. They don't automatically get a claim to it simply on the merit of being his parents.

No. I won't put it aside, and you don't get to conveniently write it off as "antiquated" for the sake of reshaping the discussion to your preferences. Certainly not without providing a convincing reason for doing so.

Children don't belong to the parent. They aren't property, they aren't pets, they aren't free labourers. A parent shouldn't have power over the children. A child should respect their parents, and a parent is responsible for their child. "Do as I say and not as I do" is complete bullshit, and that's effectively what you're arguing. It's not good behaviour for the parents to take things, but it's automatically excusable simply because they're doing it to their kids.

 

[Jewrean]

I do, but I think it's a very American idea that owing them is always about money.

I hope you're not assuming I'm American? See... we all make assumptions.

 

[MisterDyslexo]

I'd say it depends. As a parent, you lead your child into the adult world by example. Not every parent is great at that, and make fiscal mistakes in life. My mother is one of them. Ignoring the costs of raising me, and the rather pitiful amount of money stashed away for college (a four digit number), my mother has borrowed a decent chunk of money from me. I'll likely never see much of it back, and when I do, it won't be as paying off a debt. Point is, its economically hard for my mother, so I don't expect her to. I've learned from her mistakes, and felt them, so I can do my best to avoid them in my lifetime.

 

[JustJuust]

hmmm I'm surprised to see that so many people here think that they are entitled to make their parents pay you back for burrowing money. If we're talking a reasonable amount here, (not like all your life savings or anything) you really shouldn't be telling your parents to pay you back. If we were talking about life savings here, then yea you probably should, but most parents wouldn't screw their kids over like that on purpose.

 

[random_bars]

If I borrow money from them, I pay them back.

If they borrow money from me, they pay me back.

How is this a difficult concept? Why would anyone let someone 'borrow' money and NOT expect it back?