We charged our teen daughter rent to live at home, what’s wrong with that?

A Texas couple who started charging their daughter rent after she decided she wouldn’t go to college have raised a debate about modern parenting.

Erika and Cody Archie from Gatesville have nearly a million followers on TikTok where they post videos of their life on a ranch. 

Their decision to charge their 19-year-old daughter Kylee Deason $200-a-month in rent divided their social media followers and elicited a spectrum of opinions.

Kylee graduated high school in May 2022 and on June 1, within two weeks, she was paying rent to her parents. 

That choice left much of their following split over how parents can best teach their children financial maturity. 

According to the Pew Research Center, as of July 2022, 50 percent of adults in America aged 18 to 29 were living with one or both of their parents. In 2010, that was around 44 percent and a decade before that, in 2000, it was 38 percent. 

Erika and Cody Archie from Gatesville, Texas, started charging their 19-year-old daughter $200 each month in rent after she graduated from high school

Erika (left) and Cody (right) said they considered $200 in monthly rent to be affordable and therefore a reasonable demand from their adult daughter (center)

‘Our thought together is that since [Kylee] has graduated I told her… I been telling her, “June the first, our rent’s due if you continue to live here,”‘ said Cody, who had a slightly stricter stance than Erika.

‘I thought that was a little harsh, I mean maybe a little leeway,’ said Erika, though the two were in general agreement.

‘200 bucks a month is plenty cheap to live like a grub in your parents’ house,’ said Cody.

‘That’s cheaper than she eats in food,’ said Erika. ‘We think it teaches them a good lesson in paying bills.’  

One viewer said they agreed with the couple’s decision, writing: ‘My mother did. I chose not to go to college but I did get a job. I was expected to pay rent and I didn’t begrudge her at all. It’s what should happen.’ 

Some people recounted their own experiences growing up and commented on how they felt their parent’s decisions had impacted them.

Many suggested a system by which children pay rent, so they feel a sense of responsibility, but have the money returned to them at a later date.

‘I paid $100 a month, than [sic] my parents gave it back to me as a wedding present. It real helped to get started,’ wrote one viewer. 

Others were firmly against charging children any rent.

‘You decided to have a child…not the other way around. Where else would they go if they didn’t reside home with you?’ said one person.

‘My mother made me pay 500/month to live at home with her, and this was 20 years ago. She never returned the money to me and the only thing it accomplished was filled me with resentment and put me at a deficit,’ they added.

The number of 18 to 19-year-olds living in their parent’s home reached the highest levels in around 50 years in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center

A poll conducted on behalf of Newsweek this year found that nearly two-thirds of 1,500 Americans believed that adults in their twenties living in their parents’ home should pay rent, even if the parents do not need the money.

In the US, as is the case in many Western countries, it is customary for lots of children to leave their parent’s home as they enter adulthood.

Around 60 million American households are now thought to be ‘multigenerational’ – that figure has quadrupled since the 1970s, according to data collected by the Pew Research Center. 

In 2020, it found that the number of people living at home had reached the highest level since the Great Depression. 

Although the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic had an effect, the trend was observed beforehand. 

Median monthly rent in the US hit record highs in 2022 and house prices continued to rise in major cities.