Big Family, Big City Stars Face ‘Dire’ Financial Situation While Paying $12,000 per Month in NYC Rent

The Big Family moved to the Big Apple — and quickly got a reality check about life in the city.

The stars of TLC's Big Family, Big City, who are a family of 13, traded the quiet San Diego suburbs for the streets of New York City, but the change doesn’t come without its challenges.

"We're paying twelve grand a month for rent. Our savings are gone. It's scary," says dad Mark, who shares 11 children between the ages of six months and 22 years old, with his wife Amber.

In the show's Tuesday, Feb. 25 premiere, the family reveals how their children play music on the street to help cover their mounting expenses.

"I wish that things could just be different. I would love to find a solution so the kids don't have to busk," Mark adds. "We can't keep this going and Amber and I need to get on the same page ASAP. The situation is dire."

The family discussed how busking is essential to their income earlier in the episode. “When we asked the kids if they were willing to busk to help out with family expenses, they all agreed,” Mark says. They also reveal that the kids are allowed to keep 10% of their earnings for themselves.

“It's a good way to learn how to deal with money,” Amber says.

Another part of the family’s income comes from the musical videos they post on social media. Amber says their page began gaining more momentum when she started posting her kids busking on the streets of the big city. Their numbers climbed from 70,000 to 800,000 followers, Amber shares. 

They admit they were not prepared for the hateful comments their family would be exposed to following their publicly shared videos of their children performing.

Some of the comments inquire how they are able to afford living in the city with so many children and others mention how they are using their kids to sustain themselves. Amber says the main criticism the family typically receives is that they are forcing their children to play music, but she says this is not the case.

Their former home state of California recently passed a new law to "ensure children and teenagers who perform in online content are protected from financial abuse," according to Governor Gavin Newsom. The legislation, which focuses specifically on social media content featuring minors, dictates that at least "15 percent of their gross earnings in trust till they reach adulthood."

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Amber maintains "that busking helps you be a better musician. You learn how to play for an audience that likes you, that doesn't like you."

Son Josiah, 22, echoed his mom's sentiments about financial responsibility. "My family has relied very much on busking. Busking has helped me to see the value in every dollar," he says later in the episode. "We mentally do the math as the money's going in to see where we are for that week, how much of that is going to rent, how much we'll get in our little personal stash."

However, the couple admits that living in New York City comes with a variety of “temptations” that they don’t necessarily want their kids to get involved in. 

“OK, let's face it, we're a G-rated family living in an R-rated town,” Mark said. 

Big Family, Big City premiered on Feb. 25 on TLC and is available to stream on DIRECTV Stream and Hulu.