Full-Time Children: Parental Support and Independence
The term "full-time children" refers to adult children who do housework or provide care and receive money for living expenses from their parents. Both the sustainability of family support and the children's freedom to choose need to be considered.
The term "full-time children" refers to adult children who do housework and provide care while receiving financial support from their parents.
Reports in China in 2023 described cases of people returning home amid a tough job market and burnout at work.
Living with parents, financial dependence and housework should be assessed separately.
The number of full-time children cannot be estimated from social media posts or individual cases alone.
For family support to continue, both the burden on parents and the children's freedom to choose their career paths need to be considered.
Full-time children are adult children who handle housework or caregiving and receive living expenses from their parents. The term alone is not enough to judge someone as lazy or as having failed to become independent. Both the family’s ability to sustain support and the adult child’s freedom to choose need to be considered.
The examples from China are discussed based on CNN’s July 2023 reporting and AP’s September reporting from the same year.
What full-time children means and how the term emerged
Full-time children is a term that describes a role within the family as if it were a job. In exchange for financial support from their parents, they handle housework or provide companionship. Some receive a set amount of money, but the form of support varies by case.
CNN reported on the spread of this term in China in 2023. Limited job opportunities and exhaustion from excessive work demands feature as contributing factors. The report also described people resting or preparing for their next career step while staying with their parents. CNN report, published by KESQ
What this report establishes is a set of examples and discussions from a particular period. Separate research is needed to determine how much the same lifestyle has grown in Korea. It is also difficult to group people living with their parents in different countries under the same label.
The difference between living with parents and being a full-time child
Living with one’s parents does not automatically make someone a full-time child. Living together describes a housing arrangement. Being a full-time child refers to both a role within the family and financial support.
Category | What it primarily describes | What needs to be checked separately
Living with parents | Living in the same home as one’s parents | Personal income and contributions to living expenses
Financial dependence | Relying on someone else for the money needed to live | Degree of dependence and duration of support
Full-time child | A lifestyle involving housework or caregiving in exchange for parental support | Assigned tasks and conditions of support
Family caregiving | Activities that help family members with daily life | Time spent caregiving and ability to combine it with other activities
NEET | An indicator covering young people who are not in employment, formal education, or training | Age range surveyed and education and employment criteria
The OECD’s NEET indicator is based on participation in education and employment. Whether someone lives with their parents is not part of its definition. Full-time children and NEETs therefore cannot be treated as the same group. Detailed definitions are available in the OECD’s explanation of the indicator. OECD NEET indicator
How to distinguish housework from financial dependence
Receiving money from family does not erase the value of housework. The ILO includes unpaid housework and caregiving for family members within the scope of work. Whether someone is employed and whether they perform work should be considered separately. This distinction can be found in the ILO’s report on care work. ILO report on care work
Conversely, taking responsibility for housework does not eliminate financial dependence. Whether someone could sustain their living arrangements if parental support stopped is a separate question. The value of the role and the sustainability of the arrangement each need to be assessed.
To assess your family’s situation, write down the following items separately.
· Assigned tasks: The actual scope of meal preparation, cleaning, grocery shopping, and family caregiving
· Support provided: Cash for living expenses and in-kind support such as housing and food
· Freedom to choose: Whether the division of housework or career plans can be renegotiated
· Sustainability: Alternatives if support decreases or caregiving needs increase
Temporary support and long-term dependence by circumstance
The duration of support alone is not enough to judge the state of family relationships. AP’s 2023 report included someone preparing for exams. It also described someone who resumed their studies after living at their parents’ home. Returning home cannot be equated with permanently giving up on employment. AP report on full-time children
The table below offers a framework to help families distinguish between situations. It is not an official classification system or risk assessment chart. It can be used to clarify the purpose of the current living arrangement.
Current situation | What the family should check | What to discuss together
Preparing for a job search or studies | Time available for preparation and capacity to provide support | Adjusting the division of housework and preparation schedule
Taking a break after leaving a job | Purpose of the break and resources to cover living expenses | When to reassess the situation
Primarily responsible for family caregiving | Scope of caregiving and other family members’ contributions | Alternative care and time for oneself
Purpose of support is unclear | Roles that parents and adult children expect | Clarifying support conditions and career discussions
Parents’ capacity to provide support has declined | Spending and burdens across the whole family | Adjusting contributions to living expenses and forms of support
With long-term support, it is important to check whether differing expectations are being left unaddressed. Parents may believe they are helping their child prepare for employment. The adult child may understand the money as living expenses provided in exchange for housework. In such cases, it is better to first reach a new agreement on what the money represents.
How to assess living expenses for the whole family
The cash an adult child receives is not enough to determine the family’s burden. Parents may also be paying separately for housing and food. Distinguishing cash support from shared living costs provides a clearer basis for discussion.
Also record the housework and caregiving the adult child handles. Leaving out their actual role creates a one-sided view of the support arrangement. However, there is no need to convert housework hours into money using an arbitrary hourly rate.
Item to record | What to check
Cash support | Money provided regularly and money provided as needed
Shared living costs | Who pays for housing, food, and utilities
Housework and caregiving | Assigned duties and time off
Parents’ own living expenses | The living expenses parents still need to cover after providing support
Changes to support | Conditions for reopening discussions if income falls or caregiving needs increase
Parents’ ability to provide support should not be assumed to be unlimited. Nor should adult children be expected to perform unlimited housework. Recording both money and roles helps identify the burdens on each side.
Common misconceptions about full-time children
A common misconception is that the label full-time child is enough to draw conclusions about a person’s situation. The reports reviewed show different life paths. The outcome of an individual case cannot be applied to all adult children.
Common interpretation | Facts that should be considered separately
Living with parents means failing to become independent | Housing arrangements and financial independence are separate matters
Housework has no social value | Housework and caregiving also count as work
All money received from parents serves the same purpose | Support for living expenses needs to be distinguished from expectations of compensation for a role
Frequent appearances on social media mean the population has grown substantially | The number of posts and the actual population size are different indicators
1.5 million won per month is the usual payment | This amount is not supported by the reports reviewed
Family support inevitably destroys relationships | The possibility of conflict needs to be distinguished from an inevitable outcome
Do not cite 1.5 million won per month as the average income of full-time children. No representative survey supporting this figure has been identified. To compare payment amounts, first check when the survey was conducted and whom it covered.
What parents and adult children should agree on
When living together, it is helpful to clarify the conditions of support and each person’s freedom to choose. The sequence below is a suggestion for family discussions. It is not a set of obligations or a standard contract that applies to every family.
· Clarify the purpose of the current support. Identify whether it is for job-search preparation, rest, or family caregiving.
· Write down the money and roles involved. Record support for living expenses and the division of housework separately.
· Set aside personal time. Discuss time for job searching, studying, and resting together.
· Set a time to revisit support. Also write down the conditions for adjustments if income or caregiving circumstances change.
· Consider alternatives if support decreases. Discuss both contributions to living expenses and the division of caregiving.
Moving out and becoming responsible for one’s own living expenses may happen at different times. Make plans for independence within what is currently manageable. Even while living with parents, adult children need room to make their own career decisions.
