History Main / RulesOfOrphanEconomics

* In the case of ''Literature/PippiLongstocking'', you wonder about this at first, until you realize that she actually has a whole pile of pirate gold on hand to pay for the things she needs. (And, a lot of the time, she has no idea of the actual value of the gold she's slapping down for trivial things like ice cream.)

* Seems to be the sad case for nearly all of the new orphan [=NPCs=] introduced in the ''{{Skyrim}}'' DLC ''Hearthfire''; however, if your PC adopts any of them, they could then theoretically turn to type 2, or at least would have a more comfortable life in any case.

* ''GraveOfTheFireflies'' is a pretty good example of a type 3. And then ItGetsWorse.

* After Joyce's death in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and Buffy's PromotionToParent, Buffy does not work a paying job but still somehow manages to pay the bills. Her financial concerns later become plot points in season 6, though.

* In GeneStrattonPorter's ''Michael O'Halloran'', Mickey. Then, given the time frame, children worked then. He was working even before his mother's death, and she had carefully prepared him to live on his own.

** Not quite, kids can paint pictures and sell them. This troper once made a family of all children and put them to work at the easels to pay for everything.

* Obliquely touched on in ''GunnerkriggCourt''. By enrolling his daughter Antimony at the Court prior to his disappearance, Anthony Carver had insured that she would be provided for, since the Court has no tuition fees and provides for all the students' needs. ''[[InfiniteSupplies All of them.]]''

Worst day ever. Bobby's [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan parents have died]] [[StuffBlowingUp in a terrible freak accident]] that has him living in an empty house. It is up to the author, however, to decide whether or not life will be [[BestYearsOfYourLife sunshine and puppies]], or [[OrphansOrdeal downright gruesome]]. Depends on the [[HumansAreBastards point]] of the [[{{Anvilicious}} story.]]

* ''TokyoMewMew'' has Bu-ling, TheBumblebee of the group. She is eight years old when the series begins and, though only her mom's dead, her dad has gone off to train in the mountains and left her with five younger siblings to care for and a dojo to run -- but she's dirt poor, knows it, and has to perform in the street to pay the bills. Even when she's given a job at Cafe Mew Mew, she continues to perform -- sometimes even during work to entice the customers to give her tips -- and has to count her change to see if she can buy a bottle of ketchup. The anime had a filler episode revealing that her father apparently arranged for her to be engaged to a grown man, with the implication that it was only set up to legally allow her to keep the house.

* LittleOrphanAnnie, the defining example of type 2.

* In the case of PippiLongstocking, you wonder about this at first, until you realize that she actually has a whole pile of pirate gold on hand to pay for the things she needs. (And, a lot of the time, she has no idea of the actual value of the gold she's slapping down for trivial things like ice cream.)

'''Examples:'''

* In the British newspaper strip ''ThePerishers'', Wellington is an orphan who lives with his dog Boot, initially in a large concrete pipe in an abandoned factory yard, later in a closed railway station. It's never explained how the two of them survive, but the implication is that they live on handouts from Wellington's friends, plus Boot's theft of the occasional string of sausages.

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** It's mentioned in season 6 that Joyce had a life Insurance policy. It was mostly eaten up by medical bills, but only 'mostly', thus explaining where the money cames from in Season 5.

* ''Nobody Knows'' by Hirokazu Kore-Eda: Four children are abandoned by their irresponsible mother, and are on their own in an apartment in which food and other supplies are slowly running out. With no money, they must resort to various means to find food and keep up a pretense of normality (not that anyone seems to care, hence the title). Not all of them make it.

* Averted in ''TokyoMewMew''. Bu-ling is eight years old when the series begins and, though only her mom's dead, her dad has gone off to train in the mountains and left her with five younger siblings to care for and a dojo to run -- but she's dirt poor, knows it, and has to perform in the street to pay the bills. Even when she's given a job at Cafe Mew Mew, she continues to perform -- sometimes even during work to entice the customers to give her tips -- and has to count her change to see if she can buy a bottle of ketchup. The anime had a filler episode revealing that her father apparently arranged for her to be engaged to a grown man, with the implication that it was only set up to legally allow her to keep the house.

* In ''{{Higurashi}}'', it is eventually revealed that Irie is taking caring of Satoko and Rika and the two are technically under the custody of the village chief Kimiyoshi. It is left unexplained for most of the series until then.

** This one might be justifiable: A village whose economy is based on soldiers of both sexes, must have some solid program for orphans. If nothing else, orphans are easier to train into {{Tykebomb}}s, since they have no family attachements. Sai is a great example.

* In ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha A's '', [[IllGirl Hayate Yagami's]] source of funds is brushed off as a wealthy friend of her late parents. [[spoiler: In reality it is a rogue TSAB Admiral waiting for her to become one with the [[ArtifactOfDoom Book of Darkness]] in the hopes of trapping it before too much of the world gets lain waste.]]

* No one's mentioned ''the defining example'' of this type, LittleOrphanAnnie?

* In ''{{Higurashi}}'', it is eventually revealed that Irie is taking caring of Satoko and Rika. It is left unexplained for most f the series until then.

*In the British newspaper strip ''The Perishers'', Wellington is an orphan who lives with his dog Boot, initially in a large concrete pipe in an abandoned factory yard, later in a closed railway station. It's never explained how the two of them survive, but the implication is that they live on handouts from Wellington's friends, plus Boot's theft of the occasional string of sausages.