MTVDo the annoying Teen Moms on MTV get paid? What about the kids? If so, doesn't that really glamorize teen pregnancy?
—StvUnger, via Twitter
It'll be impossible for any of those teen breeders to glamorize anything until one of them picks up a hairbrush.
In the meantime, some numbers that might shock you:
We'll start with MTV itself.
"We are actually going to pass on making any comments on financial matters," an MTV spokeswoman tells. (I didn't bother asking her about glamorization matters, but I can if you want. Do you want?)
Meantime, at least one news outlet is claiming that the teen moms are making in the five figures.
Not per episode, mind you—they'd have to be friends with Snooki for that. No, we're talking by the season, if Life & Style can be believed. (And I'm not saying it can.) According to one of the mag's reporters, the Teen Moms bring in $60,000 to $65,000 per season.
As for the kids, well, there's a chance that the parents have opened trust accounts for them, but not necessarily. A law called the Coogan Law protects child actors in several states; according to the Screen Actors Guild, the Coogan Law—named after old-timey child actor Jackie Coogan—requires a showbiz employer to set aside 15 percent of the kid's pay and place it in a blocked trust account.
But laws covering actors aren't generally seen as covering reality TV kids.
That may change—at least one state lawmaker is trying to tighten those rules—but until that happens, paychecks for the babies aren't necessarily a sure thing.
Still worried about glamorizing? Then you're not paying attention.