Teen Mum UK #11

Status
Thread locked. We start a new thread when they have over 1000 posts, click the blue button to see all threads for this topic and find the latest open thread.
1 Sort by date Sort by reaction score 2
Sorry if this has been mentioned in past posts or if it’s been discussed. But one thing I’ve never been able to wrap my head around is where do these girls get their money from, especially in the early days? Shannon, Megan, Amber and Mia all live on their own but there is no indication for how they pay for their own places because none of them work!? Initially I thought they must be getting benefits/universal credit but then if they’re getting paid by MTV isn’t that classed as income? I understand Sassi has pretty much always grafted and Chloe bought her home, but I can’t wrap my head around the rest. Especially Shannon, her flat always seemed nice and in a decent building - unless Charlie paid for it?
 
CharlieSmith96 said:
Sorry if this has been mentioned in past posts or if it’s been discussed. But one thing I’ve never been able to wrap my head around is where do these girls get their money from, especially in the early days? Shannon, Megan, Amber and Mia all live on their own but there is no indication for how they pay for their own places because none of them work!? Initially I thought they must be getting benefits/universal credit but then if they’re getting paid by MTV isn’t that classed as income? I understand Sassi has pretty much always grafted and Chloe bought her home, but I can’t wrap my head around the rest. Especially Shannon, her flat always seemed nice and in a decent building - unless Charlie paid for it?
Click to expand...
They probably didn't get that much off mtv. Dont think it was enough to live on. Nowhere near what mtv US pays

Shannon's flat was nice because it looked pretty new but it's tiny and would have been housing association/council. She was on benefits that will be part of the reason he didn't live there (other than the fact he clearly didn't want to commit)
 
Speaking from my own experience and what I see myself, girls nowadays who have children young (unless it’s planned and they are fully dependant) seem to know the best way to make the most of what they get. Some of them also absolutely bleed the system. Housing is cheap especially if you don’t work, I suppose with mtv not being guaranteed from season to season they would adjust benefits accordingly. Everything is paid for and now with the added free food for school age children during lockdown, people are getting more help than ever. I found it hard to write this without seeming judgmental but I’ve experienced being a teen mother and although it was a long time ago, before nails, eyelashes, Netflix etc, if you know your stuff you can live comfortably whilst not actually working aside from being a mother. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Housing is really cheap up north as well. I was surprised how much it varies round the country
 
Sophm19 said:
They probably didn't get that much off mtv. Dont think it was enough to live on. Nowhere near what mtv US pays

Shannon's flat was nice because it looked pretty new but it's tiny and would have been housing association/council. She was on benefits that will be part of the reason he didn't live there (other than the fact he clearly didn't want to commit)
Click to expand...
Ahhh this makes sense. It definitely made me question it more when Charlie was looking at houses and told the mortgage advisor that Shannon didn’t work. So it sounded crazy to me how he thought he would single handedly be able to afford a £380K house!
 
Missdissapointed said:
Housing is super cheap up in the north and housing benefit will probs pay most if not all of it depending on how many bedrooms she has
Click to expand...
This also crossed my mind too as Blackpool is a pretty cheap area to live. I know throughout the show it’s mentioned that Ste doesn’t work at times either. I wish they actually spoke about being on benefits on the show to give an even more realistic view of what being a teen mum actually means.
 
CharlieSmith96 said:
This also crossed my mind too as Blackpool is a pretty cheap area to live. I know throughout the show it’s mentioned that Ste doesn’t work at times either. I wish they actually spoke about being on benefits on the show to give an even more realistic view of what being a teen mum actually means.
Click to expand...

Me too. There’s no shame in claiming benefits if you genuinely need them and obviously with a young baby being a single mum it’s hard to find work and childcare. I imagine in some cases it’s easier to be on benefits because the cost of childcare would outweigh the money they could earn. I just wish the show made that clear, instead of completely wiping over the subject. It’s reality tv after all so I wish they gave a realistic view in terms of the finances
 
WilmaHun said:
Me too. There’s no shame in claiming benefits if you genuinely need them and obviously with a young baby being a single mum it’s hard to find work and childcare. I imagine in some cases it’s easier to be on benefits because the cost of childcare would outweigh the money they could earn. I just wish the show made that clear, instead of completely wiping over the subject. It’s reality tv after all so I wish they gave a realistic view in terms of the finances
Click to expand...
Agree! I was on benefits for a very long time, but then I finally got into a job I love and met my partner, we both work full time now but I don’t feel embarrassed about it. It’s life, especially as a young mother it might work out better to be on them.
Unicorn_Poop said:
They all have decent follower numbers on IG so bet they get a decent £ from their Adverts & affiliate links. Wonder if they have registered as self employed and even declare it 👀👀
Click to expand...
The girls have been in the public eye for some time now so I can imagine they do. They might still get some help with benefits though still, depending on their income/circumstance etc.
 
WilmaHun said:
Me too. There’s no shame in claiming benefits if you genuinely need them and obviously with a young baby being a single mum it’s hard to find work and childcare. I imagine in some cases it’s easier to be on benefits because the cost of childcare would outweigh the money they could earn. I just wish the show made that clear, instead of completely wiping over the subject. It’s reality tv after all so I wish they gave a realistic view in terms of the finances
Click to expand...

This is one thing I wish all the teen mom franchises covered more. On the USA one, it doesn’t seem like they get any kind of help yet are able to afford to run cars (even some that were homeless) and it seemed that as soon as someone got a job in say a bar, they went out it and got an apartment (I’ve since found you can get unemployment in the USA).
Same with the uk one, when I said some people know how to use the system to their benefit, not everyone does this and some people genuinely struggle. The shows should definitely cover this, they do highlight how important it is to have a job etc but not the actual cost of living. I managed ok but it’s not the kind of life I would have wanted to start off with if I had had the choice and knew what I know now. Childcare was absolutely the bane of my life being a single parent but again they don’t talk about this. In most cases it is more cost effective to now work with the price of childcare and the costs that go with working and being a parent. The teen mom franchises don’t seem to cover anything important anymore and just focus on the drama
 
This what I also don’t understand - before I say this I’ll say that I have nothing against people using our benefits system, myself and my husband currently get a bit of help from it at the moment. And I totally get why young single mothers want to be at home why their children are little... but the belief that childcare is a barrier to working is simply not the case. I went back to work after maternity leave, freshly out of a domestic violence relationship, single mum without a penny to my name and I had to put my baby in a nursery which was around £800 per month. Tax credits (would now be Universal Credit) paid for my childcare costs. It literally went into my bank each month and I paid the nursery with it. However now, when me and my husband have another baby it would be harder to go back to work as we would liable for the full cost of childcare so I would be working to pay out £800 in choldcare and we wouldn’t get help. I really do understand why single mums want to stay at home with their children and I am not against them using the benefits system to do this but using childcare as an excuse is simply not true
 
Status
Thread locked. We start a new thread when they have over 1000 posts, click the blue button to see all threads for this topic and find the latest open thread.
Back
Top