Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Work or Pay Systems

[Jenny Guy (jenstermeister]

On Tue, Jul 22, 2008 at 7:04 PM, Tim Mensch <tim-coho-l [at] bitgems.com> wrote:

>
> Remember, just because there's an adult member doesn't mean that the
> member necessarily has free time. So why, if a household of three adults
> wants to buy out of their share, should it cost three times as much as,
> say, a household with one adult and four kids?



Single adults don't necessarily have free time, either.  I agree, this is a
deeply felt divide and, for the record, I am single. There are valid points
on both sides, but I often hear this argument -- what if one of the adults
in a couple doesn't have time -- without acknowledging that a single person
might not have time, either.

The above-mentioned household with one adult and four kids probably doesn't
have much money *or* any free time, but the adult needs to pitch in and
work, or pay -- that's the way it works, because most of us are not creating
income-sharing communities. Most communities create some slack for
individuals in difficult circumstances, but I don't see why the potential
challenges of multi-adult households should be accounted for ahead of time
in the work policy, in a different way than single folks' challenges.

You're right, it is almost a matter of religious debate ;-)

-Jenny