A mother has caught attention worldwide after she said she charges her five-year-old daughter rent and utilities out of her allowance.

Essence Evans, who describes herself a singer and yogi on her Facebook page, has garnered strong reactions from those who think she's got the right idea and others who think her daughter won't be pleased when she works it out.

Read more

Evans says she gives her child $7 (£5) of allowance each week. "But I explained to her that in the real world most people spend most of their paycheck on bills with little to spend on themselves," Evans wrote.

Seeking to teach her daughter some real world knowledge, Evans says she gets her daughter to return $5 of the $7: "$1 for rent $1 for water $1 for electricity $1 for cable and $1 for food. The other $2 she gets to save or do what she wants with."

If that might seem too harsh, Evans says it's going to a good place, with the money being put into a savings account each week that Evans plans to hand over on her daughter's 18th birthday. "So if she decides to move out on her own she will have $3,380 to start off." Evans wrote.

"This strategy not only prepares your child for the real world," Evans claimed, "[b]ut when they see how much real bills are they will appreciate you for giving them a huge discount". Though the post has garned a huge reaction, being shared over 314,000 times, not everyone is on her side.

"Probably will build resentment over time," one user wrote, adding: "I don't think that's fair to a child when a parent is supposed to be a provider." Another suggested her math was off as it would mean that her child was getting the same $7 allowance all the way until she turned 18.

Even the original amount caused some disagreement, with one user saying: "What 5yrs old gets $7.00 allowance in the first place? I used to get $2.00 & had many chores for it".