Why Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher will be telling their children they are poor

'We both came from pretty solid poverty backgrounds and are very aware of what a dollar is worth', says Kunis

The couple have been dating for about two years (AFP/Getty)

Mila Kunis will be sending her children a very surprising message as they grow up: you are poor.

Together with her husband Ashton Kutcher the pair has built a staggering combined wealth and will likely never have to worry about where the next meal is coming from or how a mortgage will be paid.

Their children will benefit greatly from this rare level of financial security.

But one distinction will be made clear: the parents are rich. The offspring are not.

Kunis explained how she and Kutcher have often spoken about how to raise children from a position of such wealth and somehow ensure they don't “turn out to be an asshole”.

“It’s a matter of teaching them from a very early age that, you know, ‘Mommy and Daddy may have a dollar, but you’re poor,’ ” she joked during an appearance on the Kyle and Jackie O Show. “‘You are very poor, you have nothing. Mommy and Daddy have a bank account.’ ”

“It’s so important because we both came from pretty solid poverty backgrounds and grew up very poor and are very much self-made and are very aware of what a dollar is worth,” she added. “Nothing’s been handed to us.”

Kunis, 32, has a daughter with Kutcher and is pregnant with her second child. She left the Ukrainian SSR for Los Angeles in 1991 at the age of seven amid a rising wave of antisemitism engulfing the country. They arrived in the US on a religious-refugee visa.

In her recent criticism of divisive immigration comments made by Donald Trump, Kunis said she grew up in a happy family despite living on the breadline.

“My parents went through hell and back. They came to America with suitcases and a family of seven and $250, and that’s it. … My dad worked - f*** if I know - seven jobs? He painted a house. He would deliver toilets. He drove a cab, delivered pizzas.

“But growing up poor, I never missed out on anything. My parents did a beautiful job of not making me feel like I was lesser than any other kids.”