First—in addressing the other person—I am none of the following: a kid, ignorant, from suburban Seattle.
Now, to address your post…
I am 29 years old, and I currently own my own home in Bellevue, WA. I have also lived in Issaquah, WA, Sandpoint, ID, and Bozeman, MT.
You say that you are incapable of supporting a child, and I don’t doubt that for a minute. However, there are many 20 year olds who are capable.
You said that I came off as having “never stepped foot out of a higher class region,” but to be honest, that’s how you came across when you said that 18 and 20 year olds can’t raise children because they’re in school. You do know that many young adults never go to college, and do manage to raise families in their late teens/early 20’s?
To address the rest of your post—which is honestly just a very unorganized hot mess—you make a lot of unnecessary and irrelevant assumptions.
-your first line states “most jobs an 18 year old will get.” But in your original post you said 18 or 20, and you’re 20, so this would seem like the more relevant age for your calculations. But seeing as a 20 year old could likely have an associate’s degree and more work experience, which would hurt your argument, I can see why you would use 18 for your examples.
-Who said anything about buying a house? A lot of people are never able to purchase their own home, or don’t do so until they’re far beyond 18, so I’m not sure why this was brought up. But, since we’re on the subject, you can purchase a home for much less than 200k in more cities/town throughout the U.S. than I have time in a week to count.
-You state that most jobs an “18 year old will get will top out at 12$/hr”—what about a construction laborer? Or a waiter at a restaurant with tips? What about two full-time jobs? Had you included 20 year olds in your calculations, as you had in your original post, factoring in work experience and possible post-grad education to supplement, you’d have a whole world of occupational opportunities.
-Why would you have a used car payment? Did you not have a car or any savings going into the pregnancy? There are many reasonably priced, reliable used vehicles on the market. I bought my car at 17 with money I had saved bussing tables and I’ve never had a car payment since. I’m not saying it would be unreasonable for a young couple to have a car payment—just that it isn’t necessary for everyone. She has nine months of pregnancy. If you both work, you should be able to save enough to purchase a car. In addition, you should be able to afford furniture and clothing for your child as well. It may not be brand new furniture—it may be off craigslist or from goodwill, but it works.
-To address your food concern, a family with that low of income would qualify for government assistance.
-and for your last bit, if you really knew anything about mortgages, you’d know that your quote of $1500 for a 200k home would include PITI.
I didn’t say life was a fairy tale—quite the opposite. I said you can make it work if you want to. Not everyone has the privilege of a higher education. Not everyone owns their own home. There are millions of families out there, busting balls and making ends meet. Is it ideal? No, but it can be done, and you can become successful.
My Grandparents started with nothing and they’re successful (see article below about my Grandpa), my parents started with nothing and they’re successful. They taught me the same work ethic and I bought my own home, by myself, without assistance from anyone at 25. My brother had a child when he was 20 and his girlfriend was 18. It wasn’t planned but they kept it, worked hard, finished school, got married, bought a house and continue to be successful.
link to full article:
http://www.capjournal.com/more-than-three-dozen-philanthropists-honored/article_02835fd8-05b9-11e1-9663-001cc4c03286.html
