Coming from the other side, sort of, there seems to be double standard with what expenses parents are "allowed" to pay for.
2 years out of college and my parents still pay for: cellphone, car insurance, and health insurance. Many will call that spoiled/entitled/mooching. But if my parents had written checks for my college while I paid for those things, no one would bat an eye.
I agree with the basic premise of the article. I would never do something like borrow $5000 and then buy a BMW before paying it back. But I've noticed no one cares if parents pay for their children's education. Many people think parents should even be expected to pay if they can afford it. Pay for a kid's cellphone (which is 10X cheaper) and that child is a mooch though. Same thing with a house downpayment or paying for a wedding. Parents have been doing those things forever right? But no one calls that mooching.
Hm. I call a down payment on a house mooching.
I guess it's just perspective of how things have changed.
When my sister, who is 51, graduated from HS, she got a job and lived at home, but was expected to pay rent. (But not food.)
When my brother, who is 44, graduated from HS/ went into the AF/ then got out, he moved home. And didn't have to pay rent or food.
My nephew is 23, has a job, and lives at home. I'm pretty sure he doesn't pay rent.
A few years ago, I had a young engineer as a coworker. She was quite proud about being self-sufficient. But her parents still paid her cell phone bill, and she once complained about her younger brother "getting her upgrade".
I'm sorry, but having your parents pay for your cell phone bill is mooching. Own it. I realize that several things come into play here:
1. Family plans end up being a deal
2. Young people often aren't making much money
Still, I had ANOTHER former coworker had a family plan for herself, husband, and two adult kids (one in college, one out) and it was $350 a month. Ouch.
How do you get to figure out what is important and affordable, and what is not, if your parents are bankrolling you on things that you cannot afford?
I realize that times are tough and jobs can be scarce. I think it's smart to save money where you can. I don't judge friends who live with their parents while working FT (one of my engineers did that) - he was saving BANK. (And he may have been paying rent too.) But an engineer making $70k and living at home can damn well afford to pay for his own cell phone bill. That's one reason why young people often get into trouble. There's all this talk about wanting to start life with the same standard of living that your parents worked years to get. Well... unlimited data, cable TV, and fast internet - those are some of those things.
Likewise, I think it's complainy pants when someone talks about getting a downpayment from their parents. It's mooching. Or damn lucky. Take your pick.
Life comes with choices. Often people cannot afford health insurance but can afford cable and a nice car and a cell phone bill.
If you have health insurance offered at your job, and you aren't on it, you are mooching.
If you are on your parents cell phone plan, and you aren't paying the "difference", you are mooching
If you own your own car (or not) and are not paying your parents for your car insurance, you are mooching.
(Assuming you have a job).
As far as university goes "many people think parents should pay for it if they can afford it". The truth of the matter is, the government thinks so. That affects my opinion. The amount of aid a kid is going to get is very often related to a parent's ability to pay. Only in certain cases can you emancipate yourself.
As far as whether or not you are an adult if your parents are paying your cellphone bill etc - I'm kind of going to go with "no". Or at least, you aren't completely self-sufficient.
If you parents want to buy you a phone for your birthday, fine.
If they want to take you on vacation, fine.
If they pay for you to fly home at Christmas because you can't afford it? That's a gray area.
If they are paying a regular bill of yours?
On the flip side, for about a decade before my mom died, I bought her a plane ticket annually to come visit, because I could afford it.
We now gift my MIL airfare gift cards to come visit.
Both my mom and my MIL can afford to come visit with their own money. But buying the plane ticket removed a barrier. We wanted to see them AND a single ticket was $300 (because they could come whenever), and four tickets on the school vacation schedule are $2000. No brainer.
Likewise, I often paid for hotel rooms for my mom and stepdad to come. Because our house is too small to host them AND they host us in-house when we go.