Fury as Mom Rants That Cost of Living Crisis Won't Affect Childless Couples

The internet has criticized a woman who told her friend she was tired of hearing "people like [her]" complain about the rising cost of living because she doesn't have children and school fees to pay.

In a post shared on discussion site Mumsnet on Thursday, the woman's friend, under the username "Thequeenoftheandals", explained that while having her friend "T" and her husband over for dinner at her house, she "got into a thing" with them while discussing the rising cost of living.

She explained that after college, they took different paths and while she did a postgraduate diploma and was able to qualify for better-paying jobs, her friend had a family and was "blessed" with her "3 gorgeous children" instead.

The poster said that while she and her husband, who does the same job as her friend's husband, own a "not so lovely" flat in an "even unlovelier area", her friend, thanks to a large inheritance her husband received from a late aunt, was able to buy a lovely house in a nice area.

Household finances are facing a squeeze as inflation surges, hitting a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June before falling back to 8.5 percent in July.

Inflation has pushed up the cost of raising children. The Brookings Institution estimates it will cost a married, middle-income couple with two children $310,605 to raise the younger child, born after 2015, to the age of 17. That's an increase of more than nine percent from two years ago, and averages out at $18,271 per year for the child.

U.S. house prices have also risen sharply. According to data from Statista, in the first quarter of 2022, the median price of existing homes in the United States was about $361,500. It forecasts this price will rise to $376,100 by the first quarter of 2023.

The most expensive city to buy a house in is currently San Jose, California, where the median price of a single-family home: is $1,070,000; followed by San Francisco, California, with $815,000 and Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, California, with $750,000.

Among the 200 comments in the thread, most took the poster's side and found her friend rude. One user, JaneFondue said: "You are right to feel miffed. But times are strange. Everybody is envious of everybody else. Best to avoid the cost of living topic as much as you can; I do! It was her choice to have 3 [children] and not study further though. Perhaps she is regretting her choices but she should not take it out on you."

Soubriquet added: "everyone has their own problems with the rise in prices. It's not just exclusive to parents. She is being incredibly entitled to think you don't have problems simply because you don't have children. [you are not being unreasonable]."

Another user, phishy, said: "T sounds like a bi***. I bet you are more generous to her. Ignore her pls, don't run around after her trying to make up." And Darkstar4855 said: "[you are not being unreasonable].. She chose to have three children, and by the sound of it she has chosen to send them to private school. She has no right to complain when other people spend their money differently."

Another commenter referred to the poster saying that she had increased her charitable donations and had offered to pay for her sister-in-law's baby's nursery fees.

ClocksGoingBackwards wrote: "Your friend sounds rude, but she has a point. If you can afford to pay someone else's child's nursery fees and up your charity donations, you're really not feeling the pinch. Especially not to the point that someone with three children will.

"That said, if the other couple were ever in a position to afford school fees and nursery for three children, I'm not sure they're the most deserving of sympathy about the cost of living either."

Newsweek was not able to verify the details of the case.