A New Bundle of Joy
Gov. Sarah Palin is a new Grandma!
Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol Palin gave birth to a baby boy on Sunday, and while Bristol has the financial support of her family, many women are not financially prepared for an unplanned pregnancy; payday loans can be a valuable resource when bringing a little one into the world. Having a child is a huge responsibility, especially when it comes to money. Affording to take care of your own needs is hard enough as it is, but affording to take care of another life is even tougher.
Unusual Name
Bristol Palin, who is just 18, gave birth to a healthy seven pound, four ounce baby boy in Palmer, Alaska. The newborn’s unusual name is Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston. The baby’s father is former high school hockey player Levi Johnston, who is also 18. Johnston and Bristol Palin have been together for three years, and both dropped out of high school after learning of the pregnancy. Bristol plans to complete her high school education and get her diploma by taking correspondence courses. In the fall, Johnston decided to join the work force by becoming an apprentice electrician. The couple will marry sometime in 2009.
Sarah Palin is Governor and Grandma
Not only is Sarah Palin the Governor of Alaska, she is now a grandmother for the first time. Sarah’s teen daughter Bristol was a huge point of contention in the 2008 presidential race—at least for some voters. Shortly after Presidential candidate John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate, the news of Bristol’s pregnancy also surfaced. Sarah Palin’s stance on abstinence education was already under intense scrutiny, and Bristol’s unplanned pregnancy only fueled the fire. Other issues like teen pregnancy, teen marriage, and the privacy of political families were also questioned as a result of Bristol’s unexpected pregnancy.
Family Support for Bristol and Tripp
Bristol will have to face many challenges as a teen mother. She was already forced to drop out of high school, and the media attention during the campaign could not have been easy. She is taking a step in the right direction by taking classes to get her diploma, but something like this would not be possible without support from her family. Bristol is lucky to have a family that supports the pregnancy and is able to assist Bristol with financial matters, as well, so that she can avoid taking out payday loans.
Challenges of Being a Teen Mom
Some young mothers are not as fortunate as Bristol. Along with unfavorable stereotypes and what seems like public humiliation, young moms have to find a way to pay for their baby. Many teen mothers do not have the support of their families or the means to care for a newborn baby. In fact, unexpected pregnancies in general can cause financial crises for mothers and families of any age. Affording the essentials like baby clothes, food, and diapers is close to impossible when a mother hasn’t been saving money for an addition to the family.
Resources for Young Mothers
A surprise pregnancy is a great reminder of why saving for unexpected expenses is so important. People should always have some money in savings for whatever comes their way. Many low income moms have government resources available to them to help provide food, diapers, health care, and other necessities. However, sometimes government help, a steady job, and a little bit of savings still won’t be enough when caring for a newborn baby.
Bristol Palin and her son Tripp are lucky because their family can afford to help them, but for most other people unexpected expenses, including providing for young children, call for payday loans. Payday loans are a great resource for young moms or anyone else facing short-term financial difficulties.
Babies are so expensive, and no one really realizes how expensive they are until they have one. I have a lot of respect for young moms, life is already challenging enough at that age and adding a baby to the mix will most certainly make it even harder.
Being a young mom is hard. Many have not completely matured and in other words are still children themselves. A child raising a child is absolutely impossible without the help and support from others. Sadly, many of these young moms are also single mothers. Being a single mom is hard enough… but being young, single, and broke can really hit the core. If you’re going through a similar situation but are not as fortunate as Britol Palin, there are vital measures you must make. First of all, make it a habit to wake up early every day. Set your priorities and write out a day planner. Always plan ahead and make emergency preparations. There are many other things you must do and change for the sake of you and your child’s livelihood.
Well, congrats to Bristol and Levi. Teenage motherhood or fatherhood is not an easy task to undertake, even if you are married and one or both parents are working steady. It is hard enough to surmount the challenges in your early adult life, whether in making a career for yourself, or getting your education, and adding a child or children to the mix makes it that much more difficult. That said, I believe I speak for a lot of people when I say that we’re all sick of hearing about Bristol Palin!
Congrats to Bristol and Levi! Tripp really is an unusual name–she must have named him after Matthew McCaunahay’s role in Failure to Launch? Raising a child as a teenager is so challenging, and lucky for Bristol and Levi they have a ton of support. However, I think that it shows there really are flaws in Sarah Palin’s concept of abstinence education. Even if she had become the Vice President I don’t think that abstinence education would have ever been approved. Bristol, Levi, and Tripp are the perfect example of why skirting around sex education doesn’t work.
This must have been an awkward situation to tell her mother but I guess at least she has been with Levi for three years; it doesn’t make it easier just a little bit more understanding. They both have a long road a head of them and hopefully they raise a happy and healthy little baby boy.
It’s tough to be a teen parent – friends of mine went right to work from high school after having a kid . . .
I’m the only one left out of all my friends who did not have a child at a young age, and the only one who has graduated high school. Watching and growing with them only made me realize how hard it is or can be, and yep all of them are single with no support except from the government. Bristol is very lucky to not be in that kind of turmoil, though there is a lot more to raising a child then money. Most of my friends have taken out short term loans to cover unexpected events. They are not a resource for long term finances, but it can help out quite a bit in times of needing baby clothes or even diapers!