'[I'm] charging my 16-year-old nephew rent': Sibling group disagrees over teenager being charged 10% of his salary in rent money

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 1, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

How old is old enough to start paying rent? This person has had no issue with charging their 16-year-old nephew a chunk of his salary each month… but people on the internet completely disagree with them! 

When you're a teenager, you often work very hard for very little money. You're just starting out at a job, and probably making minimum wage. And this kid is also working 20 hours per week while going to high school at the same time, which is a big commitment. The kid doesn't have the best home life, and has been avoiding much of his family. He wants to live with the original poster, u/Competitive_Can3822, and he's suddenly found himself in the middle of a squabble between family members. 

Is it wrong to charge someone 10% of their salary for rent? While that's very cheap in the real world, many commenters thought that the original poster (OP) was totally wrong for doing that. Since the OP doesn't necessarily need the rent money, commenters told them they were being selfish for taking that from a teen. Perhaps the original poster was trying to teach their nephew a lesson about money. But if the original poster can afford it, they should definitely cut that kid a break and let them live rent-free for a while. You're only young for so long, you've got to enjoy it while you can! 

Up next, these quitting employees had no regrets about leaving, like one person who "quit on the spot and went to work for his [employer's] competition."

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10422607872
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    AITA for charging my 16 year old nephew rent to live with me? In February my 16-year-old nephew moved out of my younger sister's home and came to live with me. My sister has 4 other kids with my nephew's stepdad. The oldest is 8 and the youngest is just a few months. My nephew and his stepdad both hate each other.
    via u/Competitive_Can3822
  • 03
    My nephew had been couch surfing with friends on and off for a few months before he moved in with me. My roommate moved out at the end of last year and I can afford the rent without him now so wasn't planning on having someone else move in. My nephew has a job and works around 20 hours a week. When I offered him a place to stay it was on the condition that he pays me 10% of weekly paycheck. His mom knows I am taking part of
    via u/Competitive_Can3822
  • 04
    his earnings as rent and has no problem with it. However, my older sister (not his mom) found out I was charging him rent to live with me and thinks I'm an a h le. She says because he is still 16 nobody should be charging him rent. I disagree as he has a bedroom he can sleep in free of charge and where he can get all his food free of charge. He is choosing not to live there. He is choosing to live with me even though he knew
    via u/Competitive_Can3822
  • 05
    upfront he would have to pay rent. I don't have any kind of custody and am not his legal guardian, his mom still is. My sister argues because I can afford to house him/feed him etc that means I'm charging him for no reason (I can afford it but not comfortably as my grocery bill has doubled and electric has gone up), and he should be saving or spending that money on himself. She also thinks he's not really choosing to live with me but rather choosing to live
    via u/Competitive_Can3822
  • 06
    somewhere he feels safe (which is not with his stepdad) and that I'm making him pay for something he has a right to. This point makes me question myself as I somewhat agree. I know he would rather be living with his mom because they are very close but living with his stepdad has become too hard for him. He would probably live anywhere else right now. I am also the only relative that lives in the same town as his mom, so even if my
    via u/Competitive_Can3822
  • 07
    older sister would happily let him live with her, she lives to far away. I'm his only alternative option that isn't his friends' houses. AITA?
    via u/Competitive_Can3822
  • 08
    No_Scientist7086 YTA - Poor kid is scared to be at home and you want to charge him rent? Not ok.
    via u/No_Scientist7086
  • 09
    notthepapa YTA, but his mom is the biggest one. Solution: either stop charging rent or charge the rent to your sister (your nephew's mom) who is financially responsible for him. if she refuses, don't kick him out though.
    via u/notthepapa
  • 10
    Your nephew is the victim here. He is a minor and I assume he already works. 20h because he knows he has to fend for himself. He has parents and it is very sad that your sister is not defending him better at home. Please be a decent adult in his life. let him keep the little money he earns to save for whatever he needs. Do charge your sister if you want to.
    via u/notthepapa
  • 11
    Me-323 Your older sister is right... YTA. Pay him back every dime you have taken from him. He has lost his home, his mom, his siblings, and you are charging him rent. He's 16 and a minor. This is gross.
    via u/Me-323
  • 12
    AhabMustDie YTA. WHY, for the love of God, if you don't need the money, are you charging your minor nephew rent?! That's not the kind of thing a decent person does in the first - place much less does to a teenage boy who's been displaced from his home, from his family, because his parents have failed him!
    via u/AhabMustDie
  • 13
    If you do need money to offset the added cost of him living there, you get money from his parents. He's not an adult - it's still their job to support him. They sound. like deadbeats, on top of being parents. Are there no responsible, compassionate adults in this poor boy's life? Is it worth
    via u/AhabMustDie
  • 14
    making your abandoned nephew feel like even more of an outsider, even more of a burden, even more like he can depend on no one but himself, for an extra $100- 200 a month? Ultimately, this is way more. his parents' fault than yours - your nephew shouldn't be your responsibility. But now that he is, the kind, compassionate, responsible
    via u/AhabMustDie
  • 15
    thing to do would be to insist that his parents cover his costs. Does he even want to be working 20 hours a week? That sounds like a lot for a high school kid.
    via u/AhabMustDie
  • 16
    No-Personality5421 Info- is his mother trying to fix things at home for him to come back (counseling etc), or did she just flat choose her husband over her kid? Competitive_Can3822 OP I meant to write in the post that she is planning on leaving her husband but she is waiting for the kids summer break so she can go and live with our dad at least for the summer.
    via u/No-Personality5421
  • 17
    AdInteresting80... ESH, except nephew. Mom and step-dad should be paying you all his expenses. if they are not willing to create a home where he feels safe. You should be supporting him emotionally and getting financial assistance from the adults legally responsible for providing for the minor in your care. The stepfather
    via u/AdInteresting8032
  • 18
    should treat him better and not make his mom choose. And mom should not allow her husband to run her child out of his own home. Nephew has enough barriers in place right now; he doesn't need to feel like a financial burden or a payday on top of everything else.
    via u/AdInteresting8032

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nephews teens jobs job teenagers raising teens family renting sister payment nephew money
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