What is rent?

Rent is what you pay to live in a place that’s not yours.

Imagine you have a favorite toy box at school. You don’t own it, your teacher does. But every day, you get to play with it. In return, you give the teacher a small candy bar each week. That candy bar is like rent, you pay for the use of something that belongs to someone else.

When you live in a house or apartment, the person who owns it might be your parent, a friend, or even a landlord. You don’t own the place, but you get to live there. In return, you give them rent, just like giving candy bars for the toy box.

Sometimes, rent is paid every month, kind of like how you save up coins in a piggy bank to buy that new toy you want.

People pay rent so they can have a home without having to buy it right away. It’s like borrowing someone else's toy box, you get to use it, and you give them something small in return.