A mum who is struggling to pay her bills was left shocked by her son's angry response when she asked him to contribute some rent to live with her. The parent asked her son, who earns between £800 to £900 a month, to chip in £80 towards living costs.
But she revealed her boy was left "completely f***ing livid" by her request, the Manchester Evening News reports. The mum explained that her 18-year-old son is currently saving up to go to university, but she is about to lose £60 child benefit and is finding things "really really tough" at the moment.
She took to Mumsnet to post on the Am I Being Unreasonable? (AIBU) forum to seek advice from other social media users regarding the situation. The post which is titled '[AIBU] To ask my 18 year old for board' was met with divided opinions from fellow users as some told her not to "punish" him for relying on her child benefit while others said it was "fair enough" for her to ask.
The mum explained: "He earns £8-900 a month and I've suggested he gives me £80 a [month]. Would make up for the £60 I will lose from child benefit. He's at college and due to go to university in September, he's saved around £2,000 for this already.
"He is absolutely and completely f***ing livid about this situation. Things are really, really tough for us at the moment if that makes any difference. Vote away, vipers."
The mum's post was met with a variety of responses from people who were eager to share their opinions. One replied: "He's done well to save but he knows he'll need it for uni. It's not his fault you lose benefits you came to rely on. Don't punish him for it."
Another commented: "He's earning a decent wage so paying board is the right thing to do. Me and DB [dear brother] both had to pay £40 per week back in 2000/2001. DM [dear mother] said if we didn't like it we could move out and see how we liked paying rent and bills. We paid the board."
A third user remarked: "It wouldn't even occur to me to charge him TBH [to be honest]”", while another argued: "He has very few other outgoings. £80/month will not put him in the poorhouse or damage his uni savings, but it might help him to understand that life costs money."
Somebody else wrote: "Welcome to the real world little boy. Oh no, actually in the real world you'd be sleeping rough or paying £200 per week."
Another added: "It's not ideal because it would be good if he could save the majority towards uni but the fact is he's an adult and he's earning a wage and the family is struggling. It's not as if you're asking him for a massive amount. I think it's [fair] enough if you're in a difficult position."
At the time of writing, 66 per cent of Mumsnet users voted that the mum was not being unreasonable by asking her son to give her some money towards rent.
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