A dad of four-month-old twins has been slammed by social media users as a “deadbeat” for complaining that his partner, home on maternity leave, is “always nagging” him for money.
The man, named Mark, explained to his friend Jessica that his partner Caitlyn gets parental leave payments.
But, they’re a fraction of her old salary, so she can’t afford the couple’s agreement to split expenses 50/50 anymore, let alone pay for all the things the two newborns need.
As a result, he whinged to Jessica that Caitlyn is “always nagging him and asking him for his money.”
“He said he is afraid that she will start treating him like an ATM, but he won’t let her,” Jessica explained in a Reddit post.
Jessica’s thread was swiftly met with outrage both on Reddit and Facebook, where users took the side of Caitlyn, branding Mark a “deadbeat”.
“He would have to pay a lot more in child support if she leaves him. That’s exactly what she should do. She must feel so lonely in this relationship,” one wrote.
While a second commented: “She should start charging your childcare fees for twins all day every day … that’ll sort out the selfish behavior real fast!”
“This dude seriously needs to grow up. I wonder how much of the housework he actually helps out with, is that split 50/50 as well,” said a third.
“Man up and grow up. The 50/50 agreement applied while she was working and babies cost money,” another said. “They are your kids as well so stop acting as if your wife has sole responsibility.”
Jessica said was shocked at her friend’s stance.
“Caitlyn is taking care of four-month-old twins alone all day and Mark is only contributing financially the same amount as Caitlyn’s maternity day, despite making six times as much,” she wrote.
She also told Mark he was acting like a deadbeat, which didn’t go over well.
“He said that the money is well enough for their family, and he will end up using the money he saved to buy a house. He ranted that he is building their future and don’t I dare call him a deadbeat.”
Most people on Reddit thought Mark should be contributing more, given Caitlyn is contributing her time (and body, and sleep, and energy) to the babies.
“He has equal responsibilities to support his children and their mother,” one person said.
“He’s not only disrespecting the enormous amount of unpaid work she’s doing to keep his babies safe and well, he’s belittling his wife’s personhood by reducing her to nothing other than a financial contribution in the house.”
Others added that parents shouldn’t be in competition, but working together.
“If a person is putting in more money than their partner, they’re not losing or being taken advantage of,” one person said.
“That’s more important to them than making sure everything their kid needs is paid for, and they even want the wife to pay for all the kids’ stuff so they can keep their ‘hard earned money’.”
“If she divorces him he’ll realize how much child support actually is,” said a third person.