Raising children is expensive, but sometimes expensive isn't the right word. Families are making tremendous sacrifices right now just to put food on their tables, and the stretch is becoming unbearable for many people. Some parents are taking extreme measures to take care of their kids. That even includes stealing. And even though stealing is illegal, not everyone thinks it is necessarily wrong.
A former Walmart greeter took to TikTok to talk about why when he knew people were stealing things such as diapers and formula that he did nothing to stop them. Both moral and ethical dilemmas broke out in the comments, with some praising him for helping families and others saying he is complicit in a crime. His defense is that he didn't make enough money to stop people from stealing.
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He told customers to 'Have a great day.'
We hear from Brandon, known as @thatssoobrandon on TikTok, about his time as a Walmart greeter in this viral video that is bubbling up again. He explained that he said hello and goodbye to customers and checked their receipts to ensure they matched what was in the cart.
He said that when he saw a customer, primarily women, with "Pampers or baby formula that was not on the receipt, I just said, 'Have a great day.'"
But why was he letting them go?
Brandon said the items are expensive, as are kids in general, and that he was not incentivized to stop people from stealing.
"We didn't get a reward for the amount of stuff we caught people stealing. I mean, that was AP's job." He said that even when he was told to watch someone because they were stealing, he still didn't care. Why? Because he was making only $11.50 an hour.
There were plenty of people online cheering for Brandon.
Some TikTokers thought he was doing a service to the community and that greedy corporations don't need the money anyway.
"Whoever does this, thank you, may God bless you endlessly," one woman wrote.
"Walmart employees don't get paid enough to fight with people who are stealing," another commenter agreed.
"I think I speak for all women love you for this," someone else wrote.
There was a caveat for one TikToker, though. "This only applies to big chain stores please don't steal from mom and pop stores thank you," the person wrote.
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For as many cheers he got, there were plenty of jeers.
Not everyone on TikTok thinks that stealing is OK.
"Expensive isn't a reason for stealing," someone wrote.
"I understand kids are expensive but there is no excuse for stealing. Just my humble opinion," another commenter agreed.
"If you don't have the money for a kid then don't have a kid tbh if I catch someone stealing idc I'm letting my manager call the cops," another person wrote.
How much does it actually cost to raise a child?
From the day your baby is born until the child turns 17, your family will spend about $310,605. That averages to about $17,000 per year, according to a new Brookings Institution analysis of data from the US Agriculture Department, per Business Insider.
Increased costs to raise a child have caused many families to have fewer children, and some adults choose not to have any kids.
Isabel Sawhill, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, said the figures are eye-opening.
"It's a kind of wake up call to parents. It tells them you better think hard before you have a child or another child, because it's going to have a major impact on your pocketbook," Sawhill said. "You're going to have to make trade-offs in terms of what else you spend money on, or on how much you work."
She added that parents need to look at the numbers and realize it is just through age 17 and doesn't include higher education cost estimates.
"It doesn't cover the cost of college or of any kind of post-secondary training, because it only goes through age 17," Sawhill said. "So if you're a parent and you expect or want your child to go to college, then you really need to add quite a lot more to that estimate."
