How unfair this world actually is! Some people, financially secure and well-off, dream of having their own kids for years, but sometimes, these dreams never come true. And others, living nearly hand-to-mouth, keep delivering babies nearly every year, and then desperately struggle to find the money to raise all these little ones...
A similar situation happened to the author of our story today - a teenager whose religious parents always viewed each child as a miracle, but one day decided to take away her and her brother's college funds to raise their future sixth child. The daughter, however, considered this a blatant injustice and harshly opposed it.
More info: Reddit
Some parents do believe that it's heaven that sends them kids, but the money for raising them isn't sent from above
Image credits: pressfoto / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author of the post is 19 years old, she's the second eldest child of five in her family, and they are all quite poor, to be honest
Image credits: ASphotofamily / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The parents are very religious; they consider every baby a blessing from above, and usually ask more well-off relatives for various handouts
Image credits: stockking / Freepik (not the actual photo)
One day, the mom announced her sixth pregnancy, and demanded the author and her elder bro give up their college fund, given by their uncle, to raise the new baby
Image credits: DCholic_19
The teen, however, flatly refused, then she took heat from her parents for being "selfish" and even got dubbed a "monster" by her mom
So, the Original poster (OP) tells us that she is 19 years old and she's the second eldest of five children in her family. Her parents had always been deeply religious, viewing every kid as a blessing from above, but ultimately, this resulted in the children being raised in extreme poverty, wearing the clothes of their elders, and living off the fam's handouts.
Yes, the author's parents often turned to relatives for financial assistance, and they helped. For example, an uncle gave her and her older bro some money for tuition, and they both managed to get into good colleges, expecting a happier life after leaving the family home. But their expectations were soon to be seriously tested.
One day, the parents announced that they were expecting a sixth child and they wanted our heroine and her bro to give up their college fund and give the money to the parents to raise their new baby. The author, however, abruptly refused, declaring that she had had enough, and if the parents didn't have a financial plan to have another kid, wouldn't it be better to have an abortion or give the baby up for adoption?
The expected parental drama ensued. The author was literally called a "monster," and the mother burst into tears, claiming her daughter wanted to "take her child away from her." The teen's other relatives, however, were way more supportive, but no attempt to appeal to her parents' common sense was successful. So the author decided to take this online, seeking some support, too.
Image credits: dikushin / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Well, raising kids has always been quite expensive, but recently, it has actually become very expensive. For example, according this article on Fast Company, over the past three years, the annual cost of raising a small child has increased by approximately 36%, reaching around $30K per year. And if there are multiple kids and the family isn't very wealthy, this becomes a major problem.
Experts say that in recent years, raising children has become the second-largest financial burden for households, second only to housing. At the same time, many families have either no savings at all or very little, so in the case of unexpected expenses, they are literally forced to redistribute the funds among their children.
Well, legally, 529 plans belong to the parents, so from a formal standpoint, the practice of parents redistributing the funds to younger children can't be considered entirely unethical. At the same time, experts still believe that transparent and clear rules are needed for all of the kids in the family. Anyway, in the described situation, the college funds were actually gifted by the uncle, not the parents.
Most people in the comments also sided with the author and her brother, insisting that their parents simply acted irresponsibly. And if heaven "sends" them children, but doesn't send the money to raise them, then that's a clear sign from above that the parents need to take some responsibility for it, right? So what do you, our dear readers, think about this story?
Most commenters sided with the teen, claiming that it was her parents' responsibility to make a financial plan to have another baby, not hers
