Are you okay with charging a teen rent?
Texas couple Cody and Erika Archie, whose daughter paid a monthly fee to live at home after graduating from high school, don’t regret their rule and, according to her parents, neither does she.
“Do you charge your high school student who hasn’t gone to college yet to pay rent on your house?” Erika asked in the video originally posted last year and re-shared on May 17 on the couple’s TikTok account, Bar 7 Ranch. “Tell us what you think.”
Cody explained that because daughter Kylee Deason, then 18, was uncertain about attending college, the couple would charge her $200 a month to live at home while she planned for her future and, ideally, became financially independent.
It’s very cheap to live like a creep in your parents’ house,” Cody said.
Their rule got the “parents of TikTok” talking.
“Yes, great idea. It teaches them to pay the bills,” “Builds character (and) holds them accountable,” and “If they won’t go to college, then yes,” the deal’s supporters wrote.
“Yes! We gave my oldest son a tent and sleeping bag at age 18,” one added.
Several parents diverged, writing, “A definite no for me. I know it’s rare but I will forever help my kids regardless of age” and “It would be different if I needed the help but 18 is not an adult!”
Others have bargained: charge the rent but keep it in a secret savings account for the child’s future down payment.
“We didn’t want him to go to college ‘just because,'” Cody tells TODAY.com.
“His plan changed all year,” recalls Erika. “Not all kids are ready to go to college at the same time. If you don’t know what you want to do, work until you do.”
Kylee finally decided she didn’t want to go to college, so the family came up with a plan that satisfied everyone: The Archies were the landlords and Deason was their tenant, paying rent from her job as a clerk in Coryell County. As a tenant, Deason didn’t need permission for many things, including socializing with her friends. She had a nighttime curfew so as not to disturb her fourteen-year-old brother; and if she didn’t come home one evening, she had to warn her parents.
“We see it as our responsibility to increase productive members of society,” says Cody. “We want our son to realize that if he wants anything in life, he has to work like a mom and dad to get there.”
Deason’s rent was sometimes good, often late.
“Almost every month,” Cody recalls. “I’d call to remind her and she’d say, ‘Can’t you get it out of my bank account?’ I wouldn’t do it for her.”
Making children pay rent should be a family decision, says Emily Kline, a clinical psychologist and author of “The School of Hard Talks: How to Have Real Conversations with Your (Almost Grown) Kids.”
“If parents are struggling to make monthly payments and might otherwise be able to rent the room, it might make sense for a young person to pay that rent,” Kline tells TODAY.com. “However, if the parents own their home outright or don’t need the money, it might be reasonable for the child to save her earnings or invest in her education.”
“Whether or not they pay rent, young adults living with their parents should think about how they can contribute to the family, whether it’s financially or by doing household chores, cooking or caring for children or elderly relatives,” adds Kline. discuss expectations and create solutions that work for everyone, revisiting those discussions over time.”
Deason, 19, moved in in February 2023 and briefly rented an apartment. He currently lives with his aunt and babysits his nephews instead of paying the rent.
The Archies say getting their daughter to pay the rent motivated her to start the next chapter of her life.
“Kylee has no hard feelings against us,” says Erika, “and she’s learned that living as an adult doesn’t come for free.”
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