21-year-old university student wonders if they're wrong for refusing to contribute to expenses while living at home with her parents: 'They feel that it is my duty to contribute to the household...'

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Aug 29, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

Whether or not you're still in school, you're an adult at 21 years old, and as such, it stands to reason that you should be significantly contributing to your living situation. There may be some situations where your family might be wealthy enough that you can get away with not contributing, but for most, the reality of most family situations will be that this is not the case, and at 21 years old, you will need to be contributing.

Readers here voted for the university student not to be in the wrong for her lack of contribution. However, these voters seemed to be predominantly hung up on the student's use of the term "allowance" declaring it bizarre for a parent to be asking their child for an allowance instead of the norm of the other way around.

The reality here, though, is that "allowance" is probably a poor translation from a non-native English speaker for "small monetary contribution." So, basically, her parents are asking her to contribute a small amount financially to some of the household expenses but not quite in the realm of paying full rent. Sounds pretty fair to us.