'I give my daughter £60 allowance a week but my son nothing – life isn't fair'

A mum has sparked a debate after admitting to giving her daughter a hefty per week while her son goes without a penny. The 45-year-old has two children, a 17-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy, and recently moved house with them to live closer to her parents due to their declining health.

She says her daughter has adjusted well to the change but her son has been struggling to settling into a new town. She wrote on : "Due to the move, my job shifted to hybrid, and I needed a work-from-home setup. My bedroom is too small, and the only options were the lounge or one of the kids’ rooms during school hours.

"I proposed this to them - my son flat-out refused ('no way in hell'), but my daughter offered her room and half-joked about charging me rent for the space. I thought it was fair, as I get a £20/day work-from-home allowance.

"I agreed to give it to her if she was okay with me setting up a small office in her room. I work from 8:30 to 5:00, and she usually starts homework right after I finish, so it’s worked out well."

However, this upset her son who believe it's unfair his sister earns £60 in this way while he goes without an allowance.

She said: "I told him he had the same opportunity and was now out of luck. He got angry and brought up the move, saying he never gets to see his friends.

"For the record, I drive them back to visit every two weeks for visits. I told him I understood his feelings but said I wouldn’t tolerate being spoken to like s**t.

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"He then started an argument with his sister too - going in on her for being an opportunistic b**** and she called him a whiny little a***hole.

"To cool off, I offered one of them the option to stay at their grandparents for the night - not as a punishment but to break the tension.

"My son opted to go and while dropping him off, my mom told me I was favouring my daughter and should be paying them equally. My dad disagreed, saying my son had the chance and was out of luck."

Wanting to know whether she's in the wrong, she has taken to social media to ask users for their thoughts.

In response, one user said: "You're giving one kid £20 a day and nothing to the other."

Another user added: "You said he was having trouble adjusting - that’s the only safe space he currently has. Anyone, especially a teenage boy is going to have a knee jerk reaction to a suggestion that his space may be invaded.

"You’ve uprooted his life - and by the sounds of it he doesn’t have the income to be able to go socialise with anyone else outside of school even if he’s invited.

"You must’ve known the limitations in advance and this should have been discussed before moving."

A third user added: "Offer your son a 'job', like weekly a couple of things to do. It could be things like taking out the garbage or yard work or even vacuuming. That way he has an opportunity to receive money too."