Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is no stranger to headlines – but this time, it's his mom, Maye Musk, taking the spotlight. The supermodel, dietitian and author has opened up about parenting, sharing stories from her challenging early years and offering advice to young families. Her message? Kids are worth the effort, even if money is tight.
Maye, who raised Elon and his siblings as a single mother after divorcing their father, Errol Musk, knows a thing or two about financial struggles. Reflecting on her journey, she explained how life evolved during her early years as a parent. In a mid-December appearance on Fox & Friends, she shared, "When I had my children, we were in a two-bedroom, small apartment overlooking a garage. And then, the next year, I had the second child, we had an apartment with a view and then by the third child, we could get a two-bedroom house."
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Maye also clarified that during her marriage, the family improved their circumstances as Errol's career advanced. "We didn't go out for dinner nor to the movies. As my former husband was promoted at the engineering firm, we upgraded our lifestyle. He then opened his engineering firm and we could move to a beautiful home in a better area," she wrote in a post on X. Despite these advancements, her separation left her to navigate raising three children independently.
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Even as Elon became one of the wealthiest people in history, Maye stayed grounded. She has recounted how she would sleep on blankets in Elon's garage during visits, a reminder of her deeply practical approach to life and family. Her advice to struggling parents is simple but heartfelt: "You don't have to go to the movies, you don't have to go out for dinner; you can just spend time with the most wonderful gifts you can ever have, which is the children."
Elon Musk has echoed the importance of family, frequently voicing concerns about declining birth rates in developed countries. He has called it "one of the biggest threats to civilization," suggesting that people should aim for "at least three children" to combat the trend. Speaking at events like the Arteju political festival in Rome, Musk warned that without an increase in birth rates, cultures in countries like Italy, Japan and France could "disappear."
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While Musk advocates for larger families, financial realities can't be ignored. According to recent studies, raising a child in the United States ranges from $202,248 to $430,928. A 2022 report from the USDA estimated that a middle-income family of four would spend an average of $233,610 per child by the age of 18, adjusted to $310,605 with inflation.
Of course, not everyone may want to take advice from the richest man in the world – or his mother – on such a deeply personal topic. Whether to have children is a life-changing decision and for many, it's as much about personal values as it is about finances. While Maye Musk's experiences show that financial struggles don't have to define your ability to raise a family, it's important to approach the choice with clear eyes. After all, not everyone wants to have kids and that's okay too.
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