Jeremy's Job May Be Demanding, But It Pays

It seems that there can never be a peaceful moment for any of the families on the fifth season of Teen Mom 2, especially Leah and Jeremy Calvert. The two have seen their relationship tested with the challenges of raising three kids while Jeremy travels around the country for his work. Leah's resulting anxiety and daughter Ali's diagnosis of a very rare form of muscular dystrophy have made for a tough season for the married couple. While their money issues are heartbreaking, fortunately Jeremy’s mysterious, travel-based job is helping to chip away at what they owe. So far, they've just barely been able to stay afloat financially, but their disagreements are getting more and more intense. So what is Jeremy doing when he must leave home for work?

Jeremy works as a pipeline engineer, which Wetpaint and OK! both report as paying about $200,000 per year. Leah wishes that Jeremy could be at home more often, but with Ali’s health issues and a faulty insurance plan that won't cover all of their medical care, that income must be pretty vital for their family. That's a pretty great salary, but what exactly does he do to earn it?

As a pipeline engineer he travels to different pipelines around the country to maintain facilities, repair broken features, and build new ones. Most of the pipelines are oil and gas, and are constantly expanding as energy needs increase nationwide. Most pipeline engineers need specific training and a Bachelor's degree in engineering, which can drive up the salary. However Jeremy got his experience, he's worked his way up to a well-compensated, well-respected place. One of the few fields that's still doing well in this economy, Jeremy has been taking on extra pipeline work because of the costs of treating Ali's muscular dystrophy paired with what he thinks is Leah's unreasonable spending.

With such a lucrative job, some fans are surprised — and sometimes downright hostile — at Leah’s statements saying that she's in "a financial crisis." But without an accountant, payment plan, or financial know-how, it can be hard to maintain payments for regular expenses like their house, cars, and monthly household bills and then add large, urgent hospital bills on top of that. Bills for doctors' offices and supplies like Ali’s wheelchair can easily reach into the tens of thousands, and that’s enough to give anyone anxiety, especially a young family relying on a single income, even if that income is well-sized. And every day that Jeremy spends home in West Virginia, he’s not on location working, which could impact how much he’s getting paid.

So Jeremy is torn between emotionally supporting Leah and working less, therefore making the money problems worse, or working longer and harder but not getting the chance to see his family as often. And Leah has to choose between taking on work outside the home and paying for childcare, or trying to wrestle with stricter budgeting and spend hours arguing with their insurance company. Teen Mom 2 is always a reminder that once you have kids, everything gets harder, but fingers crossed that super adorable Ali, Aleeah, and Addie stay happy and everything works out for Jeremy and Leah.

Image: Leah Calvert/Instagram