<p>Many parents on CC seem to believe that once a kid turns 18, it’s perfectly okay to not financially support them since the kid is now an adult.</p>
<p>Do you guys really see nothing wrong with that? If someone gets kicked out of the house on their 18th birthday (while still in high school), do you feel like it’s totally in the parents’ right to do so?</p>
<p>They do? I’ve been here for many years and IME, the vast majority here are still supporting their adult children through college at least.</p>
<p>^I know that CC parents tend to support there kids through college, but many also say it’s okay to not do so</p>
<p>It actually is legally their right. I don’t know any parents who have stopped support at that point - everyone I know has supported their kids, more or less, through undergraduate school, even if the student was expected to contribute. They were welcomed home for breaks, plane fares paid for, phones paid for, etc. Once finished with undergrad, it’s a different story.</p>
<p>When parents here mention that they are under no obligation to support beyond 18, they are almost always responding to a sense of entitlement and lack of appreciation from a poster who expects too much. That doesn’t mean they don’t support their own kid- and expect them to appreciate it.</p>
<p>who? (and I have to have 10 characters so I’m adding this)</p>
<p>Many say that the parents have the right to stop supporting an 18 year old, but also do not consider it desirable under many circumstances (e.g. if the 18 year old is still in high school a few months from graduation, or having made earlier promises to fund college and then going back on their word).</p>
<p>Having the right to do something is not the same as that something being a desirable thing to do in all circumstances.</p>
<p>Well, I certainly do not think that a kid is “adult” at 18, and I certainly would expect to keep supporting them through college if I could. I also wouldn’t cut my kid off at graduation, at least not entirely. I would extend a helping hand, although I would expect them to earn their own spending money and would want to see progress towards self sufficiency. </p>
<p>In college, our S had to make his own spending money, because we could not afford to give him an allowance. But even if we could have, I probably wouldn’t have, because I think he needed to start working and making money in order to transit to independence. (He was not one of those kids who had a burning desire to make money, even though we didn’t give him any.) I can’t imagine charging my kid rent, unless I was having trouble paying the bills, but I can’t imagine him wanting to live at home for extended periods, either. If he needed to live at home for a while to put together the $$ to move into an apartment, fine. But I would expect him to contribute to the household by helping with things like mowing the grass and so forth. When he was recently at home for 6 weeks, I noticed that he put gas in my car, albeit in small amounts :), when he used it, without being asked or told to do so. That’s a good thing.</p>
<p>I only see posters saying that a young adult doesn’t legally need to be supported in two circumstances: </p>
<p>1) The person is whining about their parents. Either about rules or restrictions or whatnot. The parent poster will then remind the young adult poster that they are, in fact, an adult and the parent has no obligation to support them. They can always leave and support themselves if they don’t like the rules.</p>
<p>2) On the FA forum when parent posters remind the young adult posters that the parent is under no legal obligation to pay their EFC or whatnot. However, this is never seen as an ideal situation and the parent posters 99% believe that the parent should support the adult child through school to a reasonable extent (depending on circumstances).</p>
<p>In addition to what romanigypsyeyes said, I’ve also seen posters recommend that young adults be cut off when parents post about kids that seem to be showing that they are taking advantage of their parents or are not showing any movement towards self-sufficiency or responsibility.</p>
<p>I think it’s much more common for posters to claim that their kids should be able to support themselves after they’ve finished their undergrad.</p>
<p>The only parents I know who actually cut their kids off were parents who had kids who headed off to a good college and partied their way into being kicked out. So not 18, but 19 and yes the tough love approach. I’ve heard, but not known more than in passing, of parents who booted kids out who did not go to college and were loafing around the house supposedly looking for a job. Again the tough love approach. I have to say in the absence of true mental illness, it works.</p>
<p>I’ve been here for years and I’ve never encountered a CC parent who thinks is OK to kick their kid out of the house when they’re 18. </p>
<p>It’s true that there are parents who say that an 18 year old needs to be a full time student in order to expect financial support, OR pay rent if they’re not in school but are working and still living at home. </p>
<p>BIG DIFFERENCE between that attitude and what you’re claiming, OP.</p>