As a long over due follow-up to my post 'Being a Mom at 20 (part 1)' I will be working on a three week series which will go over 3 cons to being a mom at the age of 20.
The three cons to being a mom at the age of 20 that I came up with can be quickly and easily put:
If you're looking for a quick answer 🠉There it is🠉
Money Is A Bit Tight
It's no secret that having a baby is expensive. It can be hard enough for one person to support and care for themselves in today’s economy, let alone having a child to care for too!
And it is comparably more expensive to have a baby at a younger age simply because young people tend to fall into lower income brackets. For families in poverty and families in the middle class, it doesn’t matter how much money you are bringing in each month, the minimum expenses needed to provide for a family are the same. Young parents just don’t have the experience or education to hold high-paying jobs, and the cost of childcare and living expenses make going to work after having a baby very difficult.
Most teen or young parents do not have the funds to raise their children adequately. I found a statistic online from the Department of Health and Human Services which stated that, "more than 60 percent of teen mothers live in poverty at the time of their child's birth. The baby’s grandparents often end up stepping in to help provide for and often raise the young parents’ child.”
That’s just the sad reality of the world that we live in today.
Personally Speaking...
When Will and I were dating we agreed on two, somewhat contradictory things:
We weren’t going to wait until we had all our ducks in a row before starting a family, BUT,
We wanted to be godly stewards of the gifts of family and money
It’s been my dream to be a stay at home mom but I know there are lots of other moms who feel as though they have to pick between a career and having a family. We are very blessed to be where we are at so that I am able to stay at home with Delilah while Will provides our main source of income. And although his day job covers all of our monthly expenses, we have picked up more work here and there so that we can live the lifestyle that we want right now.
Like eating out for dinner. Which we do frequently.
When we were expecting Delilah we’d eat out once during the week, sometimes on the weekend, and breakfast and/or lunch on Saturdays. We both worked full time jobs so it wasn’t too big of a deal. But now that we are down to just Will’s income we have had to adjust our living and spending habits to accommodate more responsibly. We eat out less and have picked up extra work to balance that equation.
My Two-Cents Worth
While some people make it all about the money, I personally do not think that financial instability is the biggest downside to being a young parent. But it has definitely earned its way onto the list.
And yes, I understand that I had a birthday and am now 21, but I starting writing these posts back when I was 20 and I was waiting to post them during a month that I didn't have much going on, which never happened. Although I may be 21 these are just as relevant.
These points, as with just about everything I post, are specific to me and my situation. Not everyone will experience life the way I am and I don’t mean for these posts to blanket every young mom. What I say is all based on my own opinion and sometimes it’s not easy for me to share the unpleasant parts of my personal life. Please comment out of love and not hate. 😊
The three cons to being a mom at the age of 20 that I came up with can be quickly and easily put:
If you're looking for a quick answer 🠉There it is🠉
In today's post I quickly touch on finances. This segment isn’t as long as the last two as it’s less personal/emotional and more just reality.
My next few Three Things Thursdays will center around and explain our budgeting tips and tricks in more detail.
My next few Three Things Thursdays will center around and explain our budgeting tips and tricks in more detail.
It's no secret that having a baby is expensive. It can be hard enough for one person to support and care for themselves in today’s economy, let alone having a child to care for too!
And it is comparably more expensive to have a baby at a younger age simply because young people tend to fall into lower income brackets. For families in poverty and families in the middle class, it doesn’t matter how much money you are bringing in each month, the minimum expenses needed to provide for a family are the same. Young parents just don’t have the experience or education to hold high-paying jobs, and the cost of childcare and living expenses make going to work after having a baby very difficult.
Most teen or young parents do not have the funds to raise their children adequately. I found a statistic online from the Department of Health and Human Services which stated that, "more than 60 percent of teen mothers live in poverty at the time of their child's birth. The baby’s grandparents often end up stepping in to help provide for and often raise the young parents’ child.”
That’s just the sad reality of the world that we live in today.
Personally Speaking...
When Will and I were dating we agreed on two, somewhat contradictory things:
We weren’t going to wait until we had all our ducks in a row before starting a family, BUT,
We wanted to be godly stewards of the gifts of family and money
It’s been my dream to be a stay at home mom but I know there are lots of other moms who feel as though they have to pick between a career and having a family. We are very blessed to be where we are at so that I am able to stay at home with Delilah while Will provides our main source of income. And although his day job covers all of our monthly expenses, we have picked up more work here and there so that we can live the lifestyle that we want right now.
Like eating out for dinner. Which we do frequently.
When we were expecting Delilah we’d eat out once during the week, sometimes on the weekend, and breakfast and/or lunch on Saturdays. We both worked full time jobs so it wasn’t too big of a deal. But now that we are down to just Will’s income we have had to adjust our living and spending habits to accommodate more responsibly. We eat out less and have picked up extra work to balance that equation.
My Two-Cents Worth
While some people make it all about the money, I personally do not think that financial instability is the biggest downside to being a young parent. But it has definitely earned its way onto the list.
"Your children will not remember how great of an employee you are
or how cushioned the back account was,
but they will remember if you were there for them or not."
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