Poll: What age should you be seen as independent of your parents?

[DasDestroyer]

As soon as the umbilical cord is cut. Real character is developed through struggle!

 

[Bertylicious]

Hang on, hang on, whoa.

What if someone moves out and then, because of Circumstances, has to move back in with their parents? Are they no longer "independent"?

It should have to do with the ability to either earn or collect benefit. Whether the person chooses to do so and/or still receives support from their family is immaterial.

Then that person is still dependant on their parents.

Like I said, age means nothing. While you are dependant on parents you are not independent of them are you....

Independent is standing on your own 2 feet and going your own way. If circumstance takes you back to your parents then you are no longer independent.

Long story short, while you are dependent on someone you are not independent. The word is pretty self explanatory.

I apologise; I have communicated poorly.

I should have said that support does not equal total dependance by which I mean that if I lost my job and couldn't make rent so went to live with my Father then I would consider him to be supporting me through a rough patch.

If he then, I dunno, was committed or something and the house seized by the government because of crimes then I'd have entitlement to government welfare and/or the personal means to not die as I am a grown up. This was true of me even when I was 18 and still had yet to move out; my father chose to support me because of love and I allowed it because of inertia.

 

[Bertylicious]

If I was 34, had a job, been moved out of my parents house for some time, then watched my parents get killed after attending the opera with them, became batman, fought crime, got my back broken by Bane and didn't get my shit together then I would be dependent as I wouldn't be able to look after myself.

Not sure who I'd be dependent on though as I don't have a ward. I guess Oracle had to deal with this situation and she got a job. Then again it was only a token job really.

The analogy gets a bit byzantine after that.

 

[Rawne1980]

I apologise; I have communicated poorly.

I should have said that support does not equal total dependance by which I mean that if I lost my job and couldn't make rent so went to live with my Father then I would consider him to be supporting me through a rough patch.

If he then, I dunno, was committed or something and the house seized by the government because of crimes then I'd have entitlement to government welfare and/or the personal means to not die as I am a grown up. This was true of me even when I was 18 and still had yet to move out; my father chose to support me because of love and I allowed it because of inertia.

Ahhh, support is a bit different.

Most of us have been in the position where we have needed help in some form or another.

You are right, it doesn't equal total dependence.

I will agree with you on that.

 

[Rainmaker77]

as has been said above: When you are no longer dependent on them.

Age is no factor in this. you are independent of your parents when you no longer require them to help feed/cloth/house you.

It could be 15, it could be 38.

EDIT: I'm twenty and still totally dependent on my parents. Why? because they're willing to help out and it saves massive amounts of money for me.

How embarressing for you. If you are over 18 and have no valid reason (temporary unemployment through no fault of your own, university, college, severe illness, etc) then you shouldn't.

I don't know any 18 year old who is earning enough money from their job to move out from their parents place.

I do. However, ignoring that fact since things may be different where you live, then they should be paying rent at home to offset their cost to the parent. Not making enough is not an excuse to be "totally dependant" on your parents.

Yeah, well I should have added that excluding people who are at Uni etc, I also don't know anyone working who is still living at home that ISN'T paying rent.

Chances are I won't be able to afford to move out for several years however, probably until my mid twenties, rent in the UK where I live costs roughly 80% of my months salary.

 

[Baff]

Never.
I am interdependant with my parents.

The older I get the more the balance shifts towards their dependance on me. But it's always been a team play.

.
The amount of money you receive for your student loan is dependent on where you'll be living, and the income of your parents. Unless your parents are earning a low salary, you can't get the full maintenance grant for living. My parents are fairly well off, so I get the minimum loan, not even enough to cover housing - what if my parents hadn't wanted to give me money for living? Apparently I'd have to seek legal indemnity to get a loan to cover my costs, which seems ridiculous considering I'm 18 and moving out of my house!
Does this seem stupid to you guys?

I had the same thing in my day, my dad was too wealthy for me to be elegible for a grant. But he didn't feel wealthy enough to sponsor me.
And no one gave loans to young people at all ever. A loan! How times have changed.

So my choices were pay for myself or don't go.
My path was to work for a while and then use some of the money to pay for my extended education in that field I was working in.

Which turned out a lot better than me going and studying some dumbarse degree like I would have done. You now, philosophy or some such.

 

[bobmus]

Apparently I'd have to seek legal indemnity to get a loan to cover my costs, which seems ridiculous considering I'm 18 and moving out of my house!
Does this seem stupid to you guys?

TL;DR: I think at 18 you should be treated as independent from your parents, what do you think?

You are only treaded as an independent for things like student loans if you are actually living on your own. They are not going to give you the full amount if you are still living at home since when you applied you didnt need it. If you had moved out before you applied then your parents income would not have been taken into account.

The loan I was applying for is the part of the loan that covers living expenses, not the tuition. I needed the loan to get a place to live and thus live on my own...

 

[bobmus]

I was trying to explain the situation of my student loan the other day, and thinking about it makes my head hurt.
The amount of money you receive for your student loan is dependent on where you'll be living, and the income of your parents. Unless your parents are earning a low salary, you can't get the full maintenance grant for living. My parents are fairly well off, so I get the minimum loan, not even enough to cover housing - what if my parents hadn't wanted to give me money for living? Apparently I'd have to seek legal indemnity to get a loan to cover my costs, which seems ridiculous considering I'm 18 and moving out of my house!
Does this seem stupid to you guys?

TL;DR: I think at 18 you should be treated as independent from your parents, what do you think?

In my province you are legally responsible for support of your child until they complete their undergrad degree, or are not realistic canadiates in persuit of the degree. The parental test makes sense. Why should poor people have to pay to subsidize rich kids going to university?

So that poor peoples kids' university education gets subsidised?

I mean if that is what happens its good otherwise that would be shitty.

Well yes, that's how it works. Look at it this way, say the government has $1mil to spend on student grants or loan interest subsidies. Let's say there are 10,000 students with no income. That means $100/kid. Now let's look at that same group and say 50% have parents that make more than the target amount that makes their kids ineligible and 25% will on average have their kids allowance cut in half. The rich kids now get $0, middle income gets $267, and the poor kids get $533. (Obviously all numbers fictional to demonstrate the concept of how the system works).

The government doesn't suddenly have more money to give out if there are more kids who qualify, so the only way to take care of the poor is to increase the fees to those with access to money.

I'm not sure you understand correctly. Anyone applying for a loan gets their tuition covered for them, but only some are granted enough money to actually live in a house, which is based off the income of the parent. Are you implying that only poor kids should get to move out? Should I be punished for my parents' jobs??
Also I'd say I have a better off chance of paying back my loan faster, which would be an improvement from the point of view of a taxpayer. Also it seems obvious that richer people will have payed a greater amount in tax, so why should their kids get screwed over in dividing out taxpayer's money?

 

[bobmus]

The loan I was applying for is the part of the loan that covers living expenses, not the tuition. I needed the loan to get a place to live and thus live on my own...

Aye and if you are not paying rent when you apply you will not get enough to pay rent in the future. Thats how those kinds of things work. They base how much to give you off of your current living not off what your future expenses potentially might be. They have no guarantee that you will be renting so they wont give you money so you can.

Actually there is a whole section you fill out on whether you plan to live at home or not, which is part of how the maintenance loan is granted.
FYI, I ticked that I planned to live in Uni accommodation.

 

[Total LOLige]

as has been said above: When you are no longer dependent on them.

Age is no factor in this. you are independent of your parents when you no longer require them to help feed/cloth/house you.

It could be 15, it could be 38.

EDIT: I'm twenty and still totally dependent on my parents. Why? because they're willing to help out and it saves massive amounts of money for me.

How embarressing for you. If you are over 18 and have no valid reason (temporary unemployment through no fault of your own, university, college, severe illness, etc) then you shouldn't.

really think it's embarrassing? for your information I am going to university

Well then you have a valid reason, as I outlined, that you didn't mention.

but even if I wasn't the idea of passing up someone's offer to pay a portion of your rent for free is ridiculous.

No, that makes you a lazy bum who is living off the good will of others. If you weren't in University it is something that should make you ashamed to be such a burden on your parents. If you were afraid you weren't ready to move out on your own yet and needed more time to mature, then you should be paying your parents rent at least. Otherwise you are still just an irresponsible child.

I'd say 21 is the Ideal time for people to be moving out of their parents home, not 18. Think about it at 21 you will be most likely coming to the end of studying at university. Which means you have the qualifications to get a job that will allow you to be completely independent.

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

Till I run them dry of all their funds and are no longer a use to me, hua ha ha!

 

[Jaeke]

Well, my father was kicked moved out when he was 16 but I wouldn't call that "independent". I don't know if you can even TRULY become 100% completely independent of your parents without some emotional backfire but if you mean just economically, probably 21, if just "outa the house", 18.

 

[littlewisp]

When you're able to support yourself in a way that enables longevity. My sister moved out when she was 18/19, but she's moved back in two or three times. Right now she has a daughter and lives with them. I moved out when I was 18, and have never gone back or asked for or received financial aid from them. Yeahh.

The parent-child relationship can be codependent for any number of years. I think it's pretty rare for kids to be totally independent from their parents at any age. Hell, I know for my parents that without help from their parents they wouldn't have been able to buy their first or second home. Do they pay it back in some way? Of course, but to say that even now they are totally independent would be silly.

Just like I know that if I were to lose my job, my home and my car and had no other options open, I would be able to go back to get help until I was able to get back on my feet again.

You mean legally, of course, but there's so many ways to take advantage of well off parents that it's ridiculous. Your parents might cut you off at 18, but what's to stop anyone applying from saying 'oh yeah, utterly no help from any of my relatives' when in reality they're not having to pay for anything? Eh, it's possible there's a loophole in the system somewhere (seems like there are always loopholes), but you'd have to work to find it!

 

[AnarchistFish]

When you move out.

I find it pretty ridiculous that in parts of the US you still can't buy alcohol til you're 21 though. Thank fuck I'm a European, they don't even ask for ID in most countries here.