27-year-old unemployed woman demands her 25-year-old sister pay more of the bills because she has a job: 'My sister only pays £250 for monthly rent.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
May 29, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

Why should she have to take care of her older sister?

When should family help family? There's a huge difference between helping your elderly mother, who genuinely needs outside help to function, and enabling young, healthy family members who don't need as much help as they claim they do. If you have a kind heart, you might feel you should help anyone who asks, but that can hurt you in the end. Enablers are the nicest people on the planet, and they feel like they're doing something right by helping someone who keeps refusing to help themselves. 

If you're going to let a family member live under your roof and pay a reduced rent price, you need to have a serious conversation about your expectations of their stay before you agree to it. Are you okay with them staying for a month? A year? Are you willing to house them for as long as it takes them to "get back on their feet," because that could take years if you let them stay rent-free? Are they allowed to eat your groceries? Are they expected to help around the house? If you don't set clear expectations and hold your guest to them, there's a good chance they'll take advantage of your kindness for as long as they can. 

The young woman in this story has let her older sister walk all over her for far too long, and it's time that she grows a backbone and tells her that she's not going to subsidize her life any longer. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • A model who could be the 27-year-old woman who is leeching off of her 25-year-old sister, and wants her younger sister to pay even more rent than she's already paying.
    via Devin Nelson (Unsplash+)

    A model who could be the 27-year-old woman who is leeching off of her 25-year-old sister, and wants her younger sister to pay even more rent than she's already paying. 

  • Am I the bad guy for refusing to lower the amount my sister contributes towards bills even though I earn more?

    I (25F) have an older sister we'll call A. A has never worked a day in her life, she has been going through depres on and anxiety, at 27 she has just gotten her first ever job,
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • it's a zero hours contract. We live together but the tenancy is just in my name, we've lived together since our mum's (single parent) death. For context, the bills and rent
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • come to a total of £1,000.00 a month, I've been paying this amount for four years, I've worked multiple jobs at one time to make ends meet, usually work 3 jobs, a full-
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • time job, a part time job, all on minimum wage and a zero hours contract to pick up extra shifts. I go to university and get my work done, somehow I still achieve decent
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • grades. Due to being mentally exhausted and physically exhausted from surviving every day, I made my sister sign on to benefits.
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • In all, she gets just under £1,000.00 each month. I've made my sister contributes £265.00 each month, but she always sticks to £250.00.
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • I received a job offer. Training is 9 to 5 Monday to Friday, but then it's shift patterned and it's 40 hours a week, I can pick up paid over time if I want to. This actually
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • A photo of a model representing a 25-year-old woman working overtime at her new full-time job.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A photo of a model representing a 25-year-old woman working overtime at her new full-time job.

  • eases my schedule a lot and makes life less stressful, as well as paying £31.5k a year before tax. My sister has stated because I'm earning more than her, she should be
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • contributing less towards bills as the lease and bills are only in my name. Our other siblings are in agreement. With the job I'm starting on the 1st of June, I can afford not to
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • request money of my sister. But, I don't think it's fair if I'm doing everything and she's doing nothing to live here rent free.
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • My family are calling me a j for refusing to lower the bill, they know the total I pay each month. Sister has been calling me aj because reducing the amount she
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • contributed would allow her to "live more" and spend more on other things. Am I being a j for refusing to lower my sisters monthly contribution towards the
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • household?
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • nonstop-tabasco Why can't your other siblings take her in so she can live her life without responsibilities? NTJ
    via u/nonstop-tabasco
  • Separate-Gazelle-721 OP Siblings are all married and have kids, but they have spare rooms. Apparently, because I'm single it's on me to look after her as I'm "not having kids and getting married" according to the siblings, when I do plan to at some point.
    via u/Separate-Gazelle-721
  • A representation of the younger sister's brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. Her older brother does not think it's his responsibility to look after his freeloader sister because he has a family of his own.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A representation of the younger sister's brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. Her older brother does not think it's his responsibility to look after his freeloader sister because he has a family of his own. 

  • Cheekiemon2024 And that's when you tell your sibs unless they are willing to take her in they can shut up about it or pay her share. She should be paying half. She is not your spouse.
    via u/Cheekiemon2024
  • Uhmmanduh And $250 isn't even half! She's paying 1/4 of the monthly bills! That's crazy. She should be paying half!
    via u/Uhmmanduh
  • Viola-Swamp It's not your job to take care of her, regardless of what she and your siblings think. I'd look for a new place, a one bedroom, and tell them all to figure it out, because as of your move out date she is on her own as far as you're concerned. You are not responsible for an able bodied adult older than you, and you need to get your own life launched without a millstone around your neck.
    via u/Viola-Swamp
  • Designer_Thought2907 What will she do if you get married and she has to move out? What will she do if you unexpectedly get injured or pass away? Yall are make her dependent on you, which can only end badly.
    via u/Designer_Thought2907

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

orphan job siblings rent bills family sister unemployment entitled people apartment
Scroll Down For The Next Article