Would you mind your teenager spending time with friends whose parents do not work?

[TickingKey46]

Would you be bothered if one of your children spent a lot of time with a friend who's parents didn't work? The child's often at their house, nice couple but choise not to work.
A lot of my family have said they don't think it sends the right message to my teenager. Ive always been very live and let live. But I'm just not sure what to say to my child as they have asked me before if either the parents work?

You are asking everyone to judge them but questioning whether or not it’s ok for your teens to spend time with them/their child. Literally asking for it. In fact, it’s not that different to any of the other benefit bashing thread attempts.

Wouldn’t bother me. I will teach my children the value of working. It’s not all about money but about reaching goals, meeting people, feeling good, doing something you love etc. Other people’s situation, as long as it’s not dangerous I’d stay out of. I think children will find their own way and keeping them from experiencing other ways people live is a bad thing, can’t protect them from everything.

I mean the Royals don't work as such....

Yeah, I immediately thought this was a stray "Royal Family" post; had to double check I was in "Relationships".

If DC is very young it seems like as good a time as any to remind them that families and individuals have all kinds of different circumstances, chosen or not, and people aren't defined by what they do for wage labor.

Your teenagers are just enjoying spending time with his friends, they don't go to their homes to spend time with their parents and discuss their working/non working lives in details...

And anyway people don't work for many reasons, some of them perfectly reasonable and understandable.

You seem to imply that someone without a job is automatically dodgy/will have a negative influence, which is incredibly silly and judgmental.

And by preventing them from interacting with these friends you would be teaching your kids that it is OK to randomly discriminate and make assumptions about people simply based on their economic circumstances which frankly would be poor parenting from you!

Yeah, how can you actually choose not to work? Aren't the DWP on your back to get a job all the time? I don't know how it works....

Yep.

They were even on my back when my child was in hospital.

That's awful! hugs x

I think it is important in these situations that there is a public meeting in the town square. The unemployed parents need to provide bank statements, medical records, receipts and a detailed schedule of how they spend their time. This way they can forced to justify their actions and decisions to judgmental, closed minded people and scrutinized. Then you can decide.

So their sole parent works hard to dhllrt them and raise them but your relatives thing they catch riff-raff-laziness if he associates a lower quality of person?
I'd tel them where to shove their snobbery

I'd be more bothered if my children's friends parents were classist arseholes who judged others on things that were none of their business.

Edit for a typo.

To answer the original question, no I wouldn’t mind.

I think people think this of us now, because my husband has self employed online business with some face to face and comes and goes as he wishes and I am now without a job.