Community in Virginia where EVERYTHING - from housing and pay to childcare is SHARED

They share everything - from housing, clothes and cars to the care of their children.And perhaps more remarkably, they have to ask for permission before having a baby.

But that is just the accepted way of life for the residents of Twin Oaks - a commune in rural Virginia with a population of only 105. The commune, which was formed 48 years ago, comprises 92 adults and 13 children who live a lifestyle of 'clever poverty' on 450 acres of woodland.  Residents live in harmony below the poverty line, sharing resources with each other. They grow food together, drive communal cars from Twin Oaks' main office, live and sleep in houses with as many as 22 other people, look after each other's children and eschew monogamy.

Children are 'homeschooled' in a building in the commune - and are required to start working one hour a week at the tender age of four.

This time period gradually increases with age, ABC's Nightline reports. 

Incredibly, residents all get an equal monthly allowance of a mere $103, for which they must complete 42 hours of labor per week (this drops to one hour a week when they turn 50). The work they undertake includes cooking, cleaning, tending to the commune's gardens and milking cows.

It also involves making tofu and rope hammocks, which the commune sells commercially.

And although members of Twin Oaks have no hope of getting rich, they say they do not care - because they will never be poor or unemployed.

'The big sacrifice you make in living here is you'll never become wealthy,' resident Keenan Dakota told the program, adding: 'I mean, you're not going to hit the jackpot and suddenly make it to the top. However, you are never going to be poor, you're never going to be unemployed, you're never going to lose health care, you're never going to be homeless. It is a trade-off that a lot of people - well certainly the people here - are willing to make.' 

Inside Twin Oaks, residents have access to the internet, but televisions, video games and guns are banned. 

They sleep in 'small rooms' in their communal homes, can set their own schedules, and help to look after the commune's 13 youngsters. 

This is greatly beneficial to those who would not be able to afford childcare in the outside world, such as some of Twin Oaks' single mothers. 

'It’s nice to have a three-bedroom house with lots of lovely furniture and big closets and my very own washing machine and all these luxuries and air conditioning but they're nothing compared to the sense of support and sharing, the sense of community,' said one female resident, Gryphon Corpus.

Corpus quit her job as CEO of a luxury yarn firm to move to Twin Oaks with her former husband and their eight-year-old daughter, Sappho.

Sappho, who is able to 'run wild' with the commune's other children, told Nightline that she lived a 'pretty much free range' lifestyle.

'The adults are not stressed out or struggling,' Keenan said. 'We don’t have people who are pregnant and stuck with a couple of kids and are miserable, or even really well-off parents who have gobs of money but no time to focus on their kids, with a nanny who does not feel very empowered.'  

And while childcare duties are shared between residents, the decision to have a baby is also a joint one. 

'Having a child is not something you can take for granted, that you can just decide to do on your own because you’re not responsible for financing that kid’s upbringing. The entire community is, so the entire community has to make that decision,' resident Katheryn Simmons said.

According to Yahoo! Parenting, Twin Oaks' co-founders used psychologist B.F. Skinner's novel 'Walden Two' as the commune's blueprint in 1967.

And more than half a century on, the commune remains a 'collaborative, self-sustaining and loving' place.

Many residents have several boyfriends and girlfriends (sometimes, in addition to a spouse) - and even see polygamy as beneficial to child rearing.

'I think it makes a parent stronger at communication,' one resident said. 'You really have to hype your communication skills to be in a poly relationship.

'And I think that’s a great thing to offer your family and your children.' 

Despite Twin Oaks' unusual customs, there is a waiting list to move in to the commune, situated around eight miles away from the town of Louisa.

Potential residents do not have to undergo background checks - but this does not appear to worry current members, Nightline reports. 

'Reading the news - shootings in schools, violence at universities - I think a lot of us feel like what we’re doing is reasonable,' Keenan said. 

However, not everyone is happy with the life inside the commune.

Imani Callen, 22, struggled with the absence of girls her own age growing up - and eventually made the decision to go to public school as a teenager.

'It became harder and less enjoyable to be here and more enjoyable to be off the farm,' she said of her choice to leave the commune.