Time
September 25, 2009

"If the sidewalks seem less clogged with Bugaboo strollers these days and you can't remember the last time you had to diaper a doll at a baby shower, it's not your imagination or fuzzy memory. Birth rates in the U.S. fell 2% in 2008, the biggest drop in nearly four decades, and that trend is expected to continue. A new study out Sept. 23 from the Guttmacher Institute suggests that the timing is not a coincidence; the recession may be to blame, as women factor economic anxieties into their decision about having children.

Those worries are understandable. All the adorable photos now taking over your friends' Facebook pages can't mask the fact that kids are expensive. TIME's Nancy Gibbs recently estimated that it costs parents an average of $221,000 to raise a child to age 17. That large economic investment is one reason that birth rates have historically fluctuated with the economy — the U.S. experienced significant dips during the Great Depression and in the inflationary years of the 1970s."

Newsweek
September 14, 2009

"It hasn't been easy to find a bright spot in the global economy for a couple of years now. Growth markets, once as numerous as no-interest mortgage options, have grown scarce. But in the last few months, economists, consultants, and other business types have begun to track the rise of a new emerging market, one that may end up being the largest and most powerful of all: women. According to a new study by the Boston Consulting Group, women are now poised to drive the post-recession world economy, thanks to an estimated $5 trillion in new female-earned income that will be coming on line over the next five years. Worldwide, total income for men ($23.4 trillion) is still more than double that for women ($10.5 trillion), but the gap is poised to shrink significantly because the vast majority of new income growth over the next few years will go to women, due to a narrowing wage gap and rising female employment. That means women will be the ones driving the shopping—and, economists hope, the recovery. That growth represents the biggest emerging market in the history of the planet—more than twice the size of the two hottest developing markets, India and China, combined."

Time
September 1, 2009

"From job security to home foreclosures, there are plenty of things for people to worry about during a recession. But a growing body of research suggests that there's one negative outcome that is actually less likely during an economic downturn: death.

Contrary to the common assumption that the stress of dealing with a recession is bad for your health, studies of population trends in developed economies have revealed that during economic downturns, mortality rates decline rather than increase. This trend is partly the result of a drop in traffic fatalities — perhaps because rising unemployment means fewer people commute to work or because people are trying to save on gas — but also of less easily explained drops in factors such as cardiovascular and liver disease, influenza and pneumonia. In one groundbreaking study in 2000 on the impact of joblessness, for example, Christopher Ruhm, an economist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, examined statewide mortality fluctuations in the U.S. between 1972 and 1991 and found that a 1% rise in a state's unemployment rate led to a 0.6% decrease in total mortality. 

In a review of such studies published on Monday, Aug. 31, in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Stephen Bezruchka of The University of Washington School of Public Health suggests the results could be explained by declines in smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and overeating during recessions as people look for ways to save money. What's more, he writes, people have more time for friends and family during times of higher unemployment."

The Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2009

"Jane Angelich used to joke about her husband, Mark, going bald. Then with one faulty flick of the wrist, she made it happen.

Mr. Angelich had begun cutting his own hair to save money. His wife offered to trim a spot in the back he couldn't reach. So she picked up an electric razor, "put a little too much oomph into it," and carved out a "giant chunk" of hair. The fix: She shaved his entire head.

The downturn has created a nation of cost, and hair- cutters. To help pare their budgets, more Americans are bypassing the salon and opting to lop off their own locks. The results, can be shear disaster -- clogged drains, fresh cowlicks and crooked trims."

The Wall Street Journal
August 28, 2009

"A critical safety net for working parents is unraveling, and many are bracing to pay a hefty price.

As schools open their doors this month and next, closings and cutbacks at thousands of after-school programs nationwide have parents scrambling to make alternative arrangements. Some are forging new child-care alliances with neighbors, or turning their work or sleep schedules upside down to watch their children after school. A growing number will leave young schoolchildren home alone, or in the care of siblings.

Taken together, the trend will mark a significant shift this fall in the quality of family and neighborhood life in some locales, forcing parents to find new ways of coping."

The Washington Post
July 28, 2009

"The well-being of American children changed only modestly during the boom years of this decade and undoubtedly has worsened since the onset of the recession, according to a report issued this morning.

The Kids Count assessment by the Annie E. Casey Foundation examines 10 key indicators culled from the U.S. Census and other government statistics.

The figures showed slight improvements in six areas since 2000, including infant mortality, high school dropout rates and the percentage of idle teens neither attending school nor working. But the report noted that teenage pregnancies, although still lower than in 2000, are again on the rise in all but nine states and the District.

Maryland and Virginia both saw small increases in teen pregnancy.

And even before the recession officially began in December 2007, there was an increase in the rates of children living in poverty, in homes with single parents or with parents who were unemployed."

The Wall Street Journal
July 28, 2009

"I have been incredibly fortunate as a stepmother. Years ago, I gained three wonderful stepchildren by marriage, when they were 4, 8 and 9. Their dad has always been extremely supportive of my efforts to be a positive contributor to their lives, and their mother has become one of my best friends.

Even with all that going for us, managing our financial roles as breadwinners in a stepfamily was confusing, uncharted terrain. My kids' father and I struggled with plenty of gnarly questions about money as our kids grew up: Who pays for what in a second marriage with children involved? Should I as a stepmother contribute to child-support payments? How about my stepkids' college costs? Do the answers to those questions change after my husband and I have children of our own?

Neither of us was stingy, and we shared a willingness to make sacrifices for all our kids. Nevertheless, wrestling with those questions was tough amid the expanding financial needs of our five children -- his, plus two of ours that came along later."

Associated Press
July 27, 2009

"Rachael Bouma calculated the cost of keeping rambunctious kindergartners under control at her son's school at exactly $227.

That was the amount she and other parents in the Tacoma district figured every family with kids in Lowell Elementary's kindergarten classes would need to contribute to save the jobs of three teacher's aides. While some families gave more and some less, the parents ended up raising $16,000 in a few months, and all three classes got their aides.

"It really frees up the teacher to be able to work in small groups and work individually with students on academics," said Bouma, whose son, Henry, is in a class of 24.

As budget cuts hit school districts across the nation, moms and dads are digging into their own pockets or organizing fundraisers to buy school supplies, save programs, even preserve teachers' jobs."

Double X
July 23, 2009

"What is deprivation? Is it best measured objectively? That's the idea behind the "poverty line"—although that yardstick, which dates from 1939 and is based on the cost of a minimal diet, is in desperate need of updating, as a new bill in the House would do. Or does deprivation in our still well-off country have as much or more to do with relative measures as with absolute ones?

The idea that deprivation is relative seems especially relevant for people hurt by the recession. They have less than what they had before. And sometimes they also have less than the friends and neighbors around them. What do people give up when they have to cut back, and how deprived do those sacrifices make them feel?

I've been thinking about this in light of the responses I received to my question about what readers have foregone because of the recession. I heard from about 100 people. Some listed more than one thing they've given up. Their responses break down like this:

Sacrifices

Eating out 21
Travel 15
Salon/beauty products 13
My own place/future home 12
Shopping for fun 9
Cable 8
Going out to the movies 7
Health or car insurance 6
Coffee out 5
Peace of mind/sense of security or freedom 5
Having a child 3
Hobbies (pets) 3
Spontaneity 3
Hopes for retirement 2
Private school for my child 2
Time with my family 2"

Chicago Sun-Times
July 23, 2009

"Teens spend $125 billion a year, according to a study from Piper Jaffray, a research firm.

But 20 percent of couples have never spoken with their kids ages 4-18 about handling money responsibly, says a new survey by TrueCredit.

Twenty-eight percent of parents have added their child as an authorized credit card user, the report revealed. With the average credit card debt for college students at $2,748, (according to a report by student-loan provider Nellie Mae), parents may want to reconsider that.

Seventy-one percent of parents said they require their children to use allowance money for their own purchases.

"Before turning kids loose with their allowances, parents should take the critical first step of teaching kids how to budget and prioritize their spending and saving," said Lucy Duni, vice president of consumer education at TrueCredit.com, the consumer branch of TransUnion, a credit reporting firm."

Discuss at Urban Baby: How do you teach your kids about money and finance?