Nowadays, with the exorbitantly high cost of living, more and more young adults are living at home.
While some parents are letting their adult children off expense-free, others are writing up contracts, holding their offspring accountable as long as they’re living under their roof.
One Redditor posted a lengthy agreement her 20-year-old niece was given by her parents in the r/AmIOverreacting forum on Reddit.
“My niece was told she has to sign a contract to keep living at home — am I overreacting for thinking it’s too harsh?” the original poster wrote above a picture of the said contract that included her niece having to pay $200 monthly rent, $100 monthly cell phone bill and maintain a job while continuing to look for full-time opportunities.
Household responsibilities that are to be split with her sister include what can be assumed to be loading and unloading the dishwasher, picking up the dog poop, taking out the trash/recycling and keeping their bathroom tidy.
All of this sounds reasonable, especially the part where smoking weed and drinking alcohol are allowed as long as the sisters are of legal age to consume them.
A little work, a little fun — where’s the harm in that?
This young adult’s family member clearly didn’t feel the same way, as they wrote in their original post, “For context — she’s 20 but not very mature for her age. I’d say more like 15–16 emotionally. She has ADHD and depression. She does have a part-time job (which is her 1st job) that she’s had for a while and picks up shifts when she can.”
“My niece isn’t out doing anything reckless or wild. I feel like she’s just kind of lost right now and needs guidance and support more than anything. I’m not against rules, chores, or contributing while living at home. That part makes sense to me. My 22-year-old son does all of this, and not by choice,” the OP continued.
“… She told me she feels like she has no choice but to sign it and she’s ‘over the b——t,’ which honestly sounds more like she’s shutting down than anything else,” the post continued.
Some commenters responded, asking if the OP could “offer her housing… Because if she doesn’t sign this, she will need a place to live.”
“If you feel this is unreasonable, are you offering for her to live in your home without an agreement?” someone else similarly asked.
Others disagreed, favoring the contract, saying “As a 26-year-old with adhd and depression, as much as I would’ve hated this at 22…the structure would’ve helped so much….It’s not harsh at all. With adhd, we are often behind, I still feel emotionally 17, myself. So to have this at any age and have support to learn it, even if the stakes are as high as getting put out, is a blessing.”
“Over $300/mo.” WTF do you think she’d be paying in her own place? None of this is unreasonable and being emotionally immature isn’t a good reason to be unwilling or unable to follow simple rules for residing in someone else’s home. They’re doing her a favor, she needs to grow up,” quipped another user.
“All of the conditions are super reasonable. Especially for a 20YO. I’m guessing that they feel the need to put it in a contract because they have tried for years to get her to contribute (financially and with the household chores) in other ways,” chimed in someone else.
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