Ever since Jessa Duggar married Ben Seewald back in November of 2014, fans have openly speculated about what – if anything – Ben does to help support his young family.
The scrutiny intensified when Jessa gave birth to her second child last month.
The Seewalds are now a family of four, and Jessa and Ben are still planning to adopt more kids, yet neither of them appear to have held down a full time job at any point in their adult lives.
Jessa’s unemployment is expected, as Duggar women are forbidden to perform any work that doesn’t fall under the umbrella of stay-at-home mom duties.
Many fans have justified Ben’s lack of work as one of the luxuries that accompanies reality TV stardom.
After all, the Duggars must be worth an outrageous amount of cash after all of their years on TLC, right?
Well … not so much.
Back in 2015, just before 19 Kids and Counting was canceled amidst the fallout from the Josh Duggar sex scandals, several media outlets reported that the Duggars net worth was roughly $ 3.5 million.
That’s a lot of cash, to be sure, but it’s important to bear in mind that that was split between the 21 original castmembers.
Since that time, the extended Duggar family has only expanded, adding four in-laws and multiple numerous third-generation offspring.
The family took a major financial hit when 19 Kids was canceled, but they rebounded nicely with the awkwardly-titled spinoff series Counting On.
But thus far, the show has failed to yield the sort of ratings that made 19 Kids such a hit.
Though it’s been on the bubble since its first episode, the show keeps getting renewed, and Jessa and Ben were paid a reported $ 400,000 for season three.
Again, not exactly chump change, but far from “never work again” cash.
With two mouths to feed, the Seewalds would find themselves in quite a tight spot as unemployed homeowners without a career history between them.
There was brief talk of Ben finally finding a job last month, but it turned out it was one-time gig speaking at a Texas evangelical convention.
The Duggars have stated that Ben is interested in becoming a preacher, but thus far, he has yet to take any steps toward what he hopes will be his future career.
Instead, Ben is reportedly doing his best to help around the house.
“He’s gotten so good he could do it with his eyes closed,” Jessa said of Ben’s diaper-changing skills.
It’s great that he’s breaking with his religious community’s views on gender roles and assisting with housekeeping and childcare duties, but eventually Ben may have to make himself useful in a way that involves a paycheck.
After all, with 18 siblings, Jessa’s not wanting in terms of free help around the house.
Watch Counting On online to see relive Jessa and Ben’s road to the altar.