Marry before baby is born? Lose health insurance! (child support, newborn, daughter)
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We finished grad school in 2001. And I just checked, my school still has married housing, still cheaper than typical dorming, still has cheap day care. What are we thinking is no longer a reality since 2001?
What school?
Also, in many places grad schools offer different options than undergrad due to the differences in students they attract and yes, it is very different now than even 10 years ago
in 2001 the tech bubble was still inflating, if you had a spring/summer graduation then 9/11 hadn't happened yet, war with Iraq wasn't much of a thought although there was some international concern going on, the great recession was still years away
The time we were in college was near the historical high point for student working - it is different now
Quote:
[LEFT]The recent drop in student work hours seems more clearly attributable to the decline in available jobs, she writes, not decisions on the part of students. The declines were so substantial, she writes, that the rate of students working and average hours per week were near 30-year lows. Further, for the first time ever, 18-22 year olds were more likely to be in college and not working than working and not going to college.
I said that they are already pregnant in response to your statement about this not being a good time to start a family. The OP said they were planning on having a family, just not this soon. That in no way indicates they don't want to be parents now that they are pregnant. Most pregnancies in the US are unplanned. Unplanned, and wanted.
But we don't know that. Just because there are unplanned pregnancies that end up wanted, doesn't mean this one is. I never said this wasn't a good time to start a family, that was what the OP said in the post I was responding to. I was just saying that there are other options if they are not wanting to start a family this soon.
If they wanted the baby, and were ready to have a family then I don't really see what the problem is. OP says they have jobs, are able to support the baby if they have it, and are going to finish school. Sounds great, so why is there still a problem after finding out the insurance question?
There is an awful lot of unsolicited advice and opinions being thrown out here. The op asked about health insurance. The op did not ask about abortion, college, work, or anything else. There are several options that could still end with these parents finishing school and having successful careers.
Oh, good grief! Anyone can have an unplanned pregnancy, and many do, including many college educated people.
I'm disappointed that's all you've got from my post.
My post is supposed to illustrate that THE BABY MIGHT NOT BE PERFECT.
Everyone wants a cute little baby but many, many babies are born imperfect, need lots of extra care, etc.
And no, not everyone can have an unplanned pregnancy. Moderator Cut. A lot of folks make mistakes and get the morning after pill, or go to get an abortion.
Unplanned Pregnancy does not have to equal Unplanned Parenthood...at least where I live.
Last edited by Jaded; 09-07-2013 at 01:33 AM..
Reason: Flaming
There is an awful lot of unsolicited advice and opinions being thrown out here. The op asked about health insurance. The op did not ask about abortion, college, work, or anything else. There are several options that could still end with these parents finishing school and having successful careers.
Google is a great tool for those people who just have one simple question. By posting on a public forum, its not a shock that there is going to be discussions about all of the OP's posts, and not just the first question she asks.
Also, in many places grad schools offer different options than undergrad due to the differences in students they attract and yes, it is very different now than even 10 years ago
in 2001 the tech bubble was still inflating, if you had a spring/summer graduation then 9/11 hadn't happened yet, war with Iraq wasn't much of a thought although there was some international concern going on, the great recession was still years away
The time we were in college was near the historical high point for student working - it is different now
Rutgers university still offers married housing for undergrads.
Not for nothing, but I provided a link that showed just that
The 80% number you just referenced was for part time undergraduate students - which really isn't saying much ..... there is an increase in part time undergraduate students - all those people taking online courses at for profit universities going for some spare time degree are part time undergraduate students ....... the makeup of part time undergraduate students has shifted in the past decade dramatically - not to mention the economic situation, loose student loan policies and shift in the workforce ideal you have more people efforting to be students in general
The second link was a survey of a little over 1,000 high school seniors and college students - again, not much of a deep dive there and I have no idea why you would include HS seniors at all
Again, from my link
Quote:
[LEFT]The last 40 years have seen dramatic changes in the hours worked at jobs by full-time undergraduates -- with notable increases until 2000, and then a period of relative stability until a sharp drop in 2009, according to research (abstract available here) released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Although, I'm sure a survey conducted in part by Seventeen magazine lines up favorably to data analyzed by the National Bureau of Economic Research
Those discounts for groups associated with Rutgers for child care aren't all that great .... my wife gets the same for simply being a teacher ....... the most generous was 20% which is nice, the most common was 10% with some coming in at 5%
The best that actually takes under 2s is CCLC @ Piscataway - basically a sister organization of KinderCare ... like many they don't like to publish their rates, but I know KinderCare is typically over $800/mo - so even on that low end and a 20% discount that would be a best case of $640 a month .... yes, discounted but still not cheap and easy for a student to afford
Goddard is on there as well as an option - discount is similar to what they offer teachers out here - the people I know who use Goddard pay over $900/mo with the discount
I have no idea of the regular tuition for Rainbow Academy - but their infant/toddler discount is only 5% and I'm guessing it's in line with most daycare centers where you're not going to be able to step in for under $800/month - that is an assumption though
Not to mention at all of those places you still need to have some flexibility - kids get sick and daycare centers will send you kid home fairly quickly or refuse to take them in ..... another thing to note is you pay for the month - if you use them or not your cost is that .... so if you kid gets sick for a couple of days, they wont watch them but you will get charged for it - things like that can cause stress to a budget
Finally - even if 100% of college students worked averaging 30 hours a week (which they don't) not even close to 100% of college kids are trying to raise a baby while keeping after their studies ..... those students that are working now are doing so and still falling behind and going into large amounts of debt and that's just keeping up with single college student life - not raising a baby life
Not for nothing, but I provided a link that showed just that
The 80% number you just referenced was for part time undergraduate students - which really isn't saying much ..... there is an increase in part time undergraduate students - all those people taking online courses at for profit universities going for some spare time degree are part time undergraduate students ....... the makeup of part time undergraduate students has shifted in the past decade dramatically - not to mention the economic situation, loose student loan policies and shift in the workforce ideal you have more people efforting to be students in general
The second link was a survey of a little over 1,000 high school seniors and college students - again, not much of a deep dive there and I have no idea why you would include HS seniors at all
Again, from my link
[/LEFT]
Although, I'm sure a survey conducted in part by Seventeen magazine lines up favorably to data analyzed by the National Bureau of Economic Research
Those discounts for groups associated with Rutgers for child care aren't all that great .... my wife gets the same for simply being a teacher ....... the most generous was 20% which is nice, the most common was 10% with some coming in at 5%
The best that actually takes under 2s is CCLC @ Piscataway - basically a sister organization of KinderCare ... like many they don't like to publish their rates, but I know KinderCare is typically over $800/mo - so even on that low end and a 20% discount that would be a best case of $640 a month .... yes, discounted but still not cheap and easy for a student to afford
Goddard is on there as well as an option - discount is similar to what they offer teachers out here - the people I know who use Goddard pay over $900/mo with the discount
I have no idea of the regular tuition for Rainbow Academy - but their infant/toddler discount is only 5% and I'm guessing it's in line with most daycare centers where you're not going to be able to step in for under $800/month - that is an assumption though
Not to mention at all of those places you still need to have some flexibility - kids get sick and daycare centers will send you kid home fairly quickly or refuse to take them in ..... another thing to note is you pay for the month - if you use them or not your cost is that .... so if you kid gets sick for a couple of days, they wont watch them but you will get charged for it - things like that can cause stress to a budget
Finally - even if 100% of college students worked averaging 30 hours a week (which they don't) not even close to 100% of college kids are trying to raise a baby while keeping after their studies ..... those students that are working now are doing so and still falling behind and going into large amounts of debt and that's just keeping up with single college student life - not raising a baby life
You seem to cherry pick. One of the sources was from a journal article. BTW if you want your links to appear, I suggest you read how to correctly post them. Yours disappear in quoted replies.
I stated one of the biggest benefits was the fact dad and I could pick non-conflicting schedules. You ignored that. An option to consider for the young couple in the OP.
I stated that my daughter only needed to go for some 12-15 hours a week once she was a year old. If you are unaware that is well below full time rates. Again, something the couple may not even need.
As for debt. We took on a decent amount of debt. Debt that allowed us to live comfortably, get our educations, get decent jobs we love, and that we paid off completely in 10 years. It was a choice we made. Just because it isn't the one you would have made does not make it the wrong choice for us, and the couple in the OP are the only ones who can decide if it is the right one for them.
Finally, you can argue all you like about the specifics but it is entirely possible for these parents to be successful, your doomsday scenarios are not particularly helpful or even meaningful to anything I have stated. I know its possible, I did it. I have a nice upper middle class lifestyle, in a nice town, with happy, healthy, well-adjusted kids in college.
Pretending that hard is the same thing as impossible is just that, pretending. But they are already pregnant, and the best thing for their family is to get their educations.
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