Deciding if you want kids is a personal choice, and everyone has their reasons. But one thing we should all agree on is that parents shouldn’t expect their child-free friends to pay for their childcare. Or at least, that’s what we thought until we stumbled upon a dilemma shared by a woman.

Here’s the Dilemma

A group of friends, consisting of five women, has been hanging out since high school. All of them have kids except for one. They used to go out for dinner once a month, but recently, the group decided to hire a babysitter so they could have a night out without the kids. The cost of the babysitter is $100 for 2-3 hours.

After dinner, they take turns paying the bill, and then they all head back to the babysitter’s place to pick up the kids. This week, it was the child-free woman’s turn to pay, so she did. However, when she got home, she received a bunch of angry texts from the group saying that she owed $100 for the babysitter. She was confused because she thought she had already paid for dinner.

Their explanation was that since it was her turn to pay, she should also cover the babysitter’s fee because “we all get to enjoy a night out without kids.” But she argued, “I don’t have kids. Why should I pay for your babysitter?” Her friends responded, “You still get to hang out with us without kids.” She refused to pay, but her friends think she’s being unfair.

In Response

Both parents and people without children were quick to express their opinions on this matter:

• “As a parent, I would NEVER expect anyone to cover my babysitting costs. Especially someone without kids and not involved at all.” – Woodnote_ / Reddit
• “When we’ve vacationed with childfree friends, we paid a bigger share and paid per person for our kids. Kids are extra, and anyone choosing to have them knows this. You can’t just expect those people who are childfree to budget for your kids and your choices.” – hinky-as-******/ Reddit
• “4 people can’t each pay $25 for the babysitter? Honestly, that’s a pretty good rate for a night out.” – NoFee250 / Reddit
• “The last time I was at a former friend’s house, she hit me with a similar line. Her ‘love language’ is spending time with her friends, and basically, I should feel privileged that I was ‘taking her time away from her kids.’ Her kids were in the living room watching YouTube. If I hadn’t been there, she would have been in the same spot in her kitchen, and the kids would have been in the living room watching YouTube.” – Jef_Wheaton / Reddit
• “I don’t think you’ll win this battle in any satisfying way. Four sets of entitled parents have decided you should pay for their choices. They’re not going to change their minds when they have the majority, and it benefits them so much.” – LittleMsSavoirFaire / Reddit

The majority of responses agreed that it’s unreasonable for parents to expect their child-free friends to cover the cost of babysitting. It’s important to respect each other’s choices and responsibilities.