The helping your wife is key. I had to stop dating middle class white dudes because I’d send my mom and brother money. All American born family here. But I did have to help my family out. So that also meant I couldn’t afford to do the things my white middle class friends who made the same amount of money as me did. So when it came to dating the white middle class guys, they seemed to have more of a problem with me sending my brother and mom money. Especially since I was sending my brother money while he was incarcerated.
Then I got a Texican boyfriend. I mentioned my brother needed new shoes and I had to also help my mom, and actually had to fly home asap to see her because she had cancer. Texican shows up at my apartment with what he could afford $150. I didn’t even ask. But unlike previous boyfriends he didn’t question my sending family money.
He understood because he would send money to his grandparents also. We eneded up breaking up because he decided to move back to West Texas tiny town to take care of his grandparents who raised him and I couldn’t imagine moving to a rural town so soon, again.
He’s the ex all others ended up being secretly compared to.
Maybe the emancipation part happens when the child is a grown adult, lives 5 states or more away and doesn’t make enough to cover the cost of a dependent without then being considered living at poverty level?
My mom received social services support when she had no means of income and I could not financially provide for her or cover her medical costs.