This show happens to be one of my guilty pleasures. I follow it pretty closely and have a good idea of what's going on. One thing I can guarantee is that the show will go on. Kate used to be a nurse and Jon was in the IT field. As far as I can tell neither of them have any other source of income other than the show. No show, no money. Simple as that.
All you need to watch is one episode to figure out that Kate is a bitch and treats Jon like a dog. I don't know how he put's up with her shit all the time. If you do enough googling you'll find that her bitch attitude goes way back. Her dad was a Baptist minister at a local church, and he, along with all the churches members, came together and helped out in a big way when they found out about the six babies. Though used, they were offered strollers, cribs, clothes, toys etc...to which Kate turned her nose up at. She wanted only new stuff.
Kate's sister (Jodi) used to be a regular on the show, but when she inquired about seeing some money from her appearances, Kate simply said "Only we get paid!" Poor Jon. Poor, poor Jon. Maybe that broad sun tanning on the lawn of his 1.1 million dollar house was actually his SP
Last I heard was that TLC was working on trying to write all the latest gossip into the show, including Kate's supposed indiscretions with the family's body guard.