No job for a year- let's have a baby!

[gooddecisions]

I was just reading this article and I know I'm grinch for saying this, but double down on the bc if neither husbard nor wife has had a job in over a year. These were affluent, educated people and should really know better.

And one of the couples has her parents babysit when the husband is looking for a job. What's the wife doing?

www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2010-12-22-1Ajobless22_CV_N.htm

[Abby Normal]

Well sometimes things happen. It doesn't say they were trying.

My brother has been out of work for nearly two years. He's made worse decisions than this.

[michelyn8]

I had trouble following the article, but I gather the author meant the 'rent babysat when she was able to get a substitute teaching gig so the hubby could job hunt.

To their credit, they actually gave up living in their home when they could no longer make the payment and are actually trying to sell it versus waiting for the bank to foreclose and force them out.

[haapai]

The only rational explanation that I can find is "... Alexis, 36." She may have been convinced that her fertility was about to fall off a cliff.

Unemployed people can do very strange and self-destructive things in the name of getting on with their lives or maintaining their self-image.

I don't think we distinguish too well between going into the hole at the rate of $1000 a month and burning through money at twice that rate. It makes a heck of a difference when it comes time to dig oneself out of that hole, but when you're making that decision it's just two different degrees of "not good".

[haapai]

FWIW, I wrote my first budget in 10 years, one week after coming off a year-long stint of unemployment. I could not bring myself to include a birth control line, so I padded the grocery budget by $40 a month. Later, I wondered why I had set groceries so high and cut it.

I still break out in a cold sweat when I remember my idiocy. A "medical expense" line with a very blunt comment flag was added soon after I discovered my mistake. I've become a bit of a nudje about the medical expense line since then.

[The J]

Why not? Then you can have two SAHPs!

[joynerk]

Dec 22, 2010 14:17:58 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

Well sometimes things happen. It doesn't say they were trying.

I mean, if you're not working, you've got plenty of spare time to make a kiddo! Maybe they don't have insurance to cover bc?

[Opti]

Dec 22, 2010 15:47:24 GMT -5 The J said:

Why not? Then you can have two SAHPs!

Think ExPat and SuziQ would approve?

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"I don't think we distinguish too well between going into the hole at the rate of $1000 a month and burning through money at twice that rate. It makes a heck of a difference when it comes time to dig oneself out of that hole, but when you're making that decision it's just two different degrees of "not good".":::...

Hell, I'm doing that right now. Its amazing seeing both sides of the equation at once.

...:::"She may have been convinced that her fertility was about to fall off a cliff. ":::...

In all fairness, this is possible. Hell, an "orderly" pregnancy while unemployed could cost less than a "complicated" pregnancy while employed, right?

[DVM gone riding]

is BC expensive?? I always thought the generic basic was pretty cheap. But I have never had it without insurance so usually that means 10 a month or less.

[joynerk]

Dec 22, 2010 22:34:26 GMT -5 DVM gone riding said:

is BC expensive??

I don't know, have never had to pay oop... but it's definitely cheaper than a kid!

[The J]

Dec 22, 2010 22:34:26 GMT -5 DVM gone riding said:

is BC expensive?? I always thought the generic basic was pretty cheap. But I have never had it without insurance so usually that means 10 a month or less.

Condoms aren't that expensive.

[joynerk]

Dec 22, 2010 22:49:03 GMT -5 The J said:

Condoms aren't that expensive.

Yeah, right. He probably complained that it didn't feel as good

[gooddecisions]

Indeed, condoms are inexpensive. Plus there are plenty of $4 BC prescription at the grocery store, drugstores, and big box store. Too bad you need a prescription and doctors require women to come in at least once a year to write the script. The world would be better off if pills were over the counter. If they finally approved Plan B to be over the counter, then at least one type of pills could be too. From my lips to your ears. Seriously, is somebody going to O.D. from B.C.? freakin' ridiculous.

[gooddecisions]

BTW- $4 is without insurance.

[quotequeen]

If I lost my job I would have a kid so that I had an excuse for being out of work for a while.

[The J]

Dec 23, 2010 9:09:12 GMT -5 quotequeen said:

If I lost my job I would have a kid so that I had an excuse for being out of work for a while.

lmao

[Sum Dum Gai]

With the way our social programs are structured you really can't go wrong with having a baby. In the absolute worse case scenario, where the parent/s have no money at all, the state provides health and dental insurance, housing, food, free education, utility assistance, daycare, etc. You pretty much get everything but a reliable car.

You might have to give up certain things, like being able to decide where you live instead of being forced into government housing, but you know that the state will make sure you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back, food on the table, and the kids will get some education. It's more than a lot of working parents in other parts of the world can provide.

[suziq38]

Think ExPat and SuziQ would approve?

Sure. She should have 2 more, since Obama just approved 3 years of UE.
One baby for every year of UE.

That will help their situation.

[suziq38]

I know why they are having a baby.... They will qualify for Welfare, WIC, food stamps, etc.
They will probably say that they are separated.

Joking aside, sad situation.