“The person living at home is living for free…” Really? When I “lived for free” I raised two birth children alone, in-house father notwithstanding. I provided a home for my stepchild when her mother couldn’t be bothered. I cooked, cleaned, nursed, organized, accompanied the children to lessons and countless practices and sporting events, etc., and cheered through every one of them. When my children were hospitalized three times, I lived there. I mowed the lawn, shoveled the snow, raked the leaves, cleaned the rain gutters, plastered, painted and wallpapered, took care of finances, made house and car repairs, worked at our children’s schools (unpaid), supervised class trips, organized and participated in school fund raising, helped my neighbors when they were in need, and entertained the boss and co-workers. Oh, almost forgot. My husband’s job required transfers, so I did this in three countries over 14 years. That of course required dealing with real estate agents, finding homes, securing mortgages, choosing schools, finding doctors, Scouts, children’s baseball, basketball, hockey or whatever teams and enrolling the children. When the marriage ended, I was 14 years behind in the “workforce.” That means experience, seniority, possible promotions, benefits, pension plans, and 728 pay checks. My spousal support was 200.00/month for two years. Talk about a free ride.
