The polygamist Brown family has had many struggles throughout the 15 seasons on TLC’s Sister Wives. A recurring theme for them is their financial struggles. All of the wives have had jobs throughout the series, but with 18 children, four wives, and a husband, the money they have isn’t going far enough. If Kody has a job, there are many frequent signs that he isn’t bringing home enough to his family in the way that they are living.
When the series started, Kody referred vaguely to working in ad sales. He has never been shown working on the show and with how often the families move, it’s assumed he doesn’t have a career as much as intermittent jobs. Some of the family’s entrepreneurial ideas never get far off the ground. Robyn ran an online boutique called My Sister Wife’s Closet, but that closed not long after opening. While selling a detox program, Kody decided he wanted to open a gym called Fundamentalist Fitness, but that never got beyond the website stage.
Long before Sister Wives began filming, the family was struggling. in 1997, Janelle filed bankruptcy, solo because she isn’t legally married to Kody. It wasn’t revealed on the show, but during season 1, Christine Brown was living on food stamps. She was the only wife that wasn’t working and was taking care of all the Brown children. In 2005 Meri and Kody filed for t bankruptcy (they were legally married at the time), and then in 2010, Christine filed for bankruptcy. While Kody is not legally responsible for the finances of the women he is only spiritually married to, he is the one making the financial decisions for all the wives. Every time they file bankruptcy, he shares in the blame.
When Kody decided he wanted to build one big home for all of his family, he bought the land, then picked up and moved before there was any plan to develop the land. All the wives ended up either buying or renting different houses, but now they also have the added expense of property taxes for land that they have never broken ground on. Considering money was tight before they bought the land, the financial situation has no doubt only gotten worse adding another unnecessary expense to their strained incomes. While the family now plans to build four separate homes on the land, no progress has been made.
Allowing TLC to follow the Browns has provided some extra money for the family, Kody also negotiated their salary down significantly in order to keep the show going for so long. The show was heading toward cancellation after season 11, so Kody negotiated for his and his wives’ pay to be cut by a quarter. Instead of $180,000 per adult per season, TLC now only pays a total of $180,000 to the Browns per season, which is clearly not enough for the family to live on. According to The Sun, Kody repeatedly falls behind on tax payments for the family’s various properties.
In the end, while the Browns could use more money, no amount of money is enough if it’s handled badly. Kody has proven time and time again that he is not financially savvy, yet he is the one who makes the big financial decisions for the family. Perhaps if Kody was the one earning the family’s money instead of his wives, he’d learn the value of a dollar a little better and spend a little more time considering the financial impact of his choices before making those choices. Unless something changes, Kody is bound to keep making the same poor decisions he always has, and viewers will continue to watch the family’s downward spiral on Sister Wives.
Source: The Sun