Strollerderby : poor

Lower-Income Kids Moving More Because of Recession

Amy Kuras — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:31:00 GMT

Although I live in Detroit, cradle of the auto industry, and thus have anxiety attacks on a daily basis about what will happen if GM goes out of business, we’ve been pretty insulated from the worst of the recession so far. It’s more because my husband works in academia and I am a freelance writer so it’s not like we had any money to begin with, but I definitely feel lucky that we aren’t facing foreclosure or significant loss of income (knock wood) like so many of our neighbors.

One of the many things that breaks my heart about this recession is the effect on kids. It’s not their fault, they didn’t make any of the irresponsible decisions that helped bring the economy down, and yet they are facing the loss of their homes, significantly reduced standards of living and worse.

Teachers and school counselors are seeing an increase in mobility among lower income families due to the recession, and this was a group that already moved around a lot as their fortunes rose and fell. Teachers tell stories of kids who start school one week before standardized testing begins and are just lost, who are sleeping on a couch at Grandma’s because their family lost their home and needs a place to stay, who face a new school with no friends in the middle of the school year.

I feel so bad for these kids – my family moved a lot when I was a kid and it sucked, and we were, as middle class people, insulated from the myriad other difficulties faced by a low-income family. And I did live through a parental job loss when I was in college, and even then when I wasn’t living at home the stress and anxiety my family was facing affected me a lot.

My only point here, I guess, is be nice, and teach your kids to be too. If a new kid shows up midyear, encourage your kid to maybe sit with them at lunch or get to know them, because chances are things are hard enough for this kid at home and a little kindness can make a big difference.

They Say: Poor Kids, Rich Kids Think Differently

JeanneSager — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:54:00 GMT

Imagine that. One set's worrying about where the next meal's coming from; the other's worrying about their next iPod. And experts had to do actual studies to figure out rich kids and poor kids think differently?

It was a small study - just twenty-six kids - out of UC Berkley, but the significance is its focus. Scientists did not look at how well kids were faring on tests, which could have as much to do with a lack of quality education as it does with actual brain function or smarts. Instead they took a group of kids from low-income backgrounds and another of kids from high-income families and measured activity in the brain's prefrontal cortex, the part linked to problem solving.

When they flashed images on the screen, a measurement of the activity in that area was measured on all of the nine- and ten-year-old kids. The kids from lower-income households showed markedly less activity than their rich counterparts. As I said, it's a small study, which means the data is relatively worthless. But it proves there's merit to look at the environmental affects on intelligence, not just on health.

Image/Source: BBC News

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Childcare Relationships and Bickering Parents Affect Kids' Stress Hormones

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:30:00 GMT

It seems self-evident that kids with poor childcare relationships or parents who frequently fight are more stressed than other kids. But now two new studies have established this common sense theory from a biological standpoint, by monitoring the levels of cortisol (the human stress hormone) in preschoolers and 6-year-olds. As parents across the country struggle to afford high quality childcare and to maintain a stable home environment, these studies are unfortunately quite applicable to these trying economic times.

In most people, cortisol levels decrease throughout the day. But for many children in full-time daycare, the stress hormone increases as the day progresses. Researchers found that class size clearly affected children’s moods, with preschoolers in classes of 10 or fewer children producing less cortisol than those in classrooms with closer to 20 other kids.

Children with poor relationships with their daycare providers became more stressed after one-on-one interactions with the teacher, while clingier kids had higher overall cortisol increases throughout the day.

Similarly, a study of 6-year-olds with bickering parents found that those who were very involved in and distressed about the fights produced more cortisol than other 6-year-olds. Since high levels of cortisol have been linked to health and psychological problems, this finding offers a biological understanding of why kids who get very upset by their parents’ arguments are more likely to have psychological problems later. (Whether higher levels of cortisol are a cause or an effect of psychological disorders is not clear.)

The study’s authors hope that understanding the biological basis of stress in young children will change the way kids in these common problematic situations are treated. For instance, monitoring kids’ levels of cortisol could help indicate whether a given intervention is working to relieve stress or not.

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Photo: pregnancy-depression-help.com

5 Ways to Not Go Broke (with Kids)

Cole Gamble — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Having a family is a pricy pastime, like eating Faberge eggs or using antique bone china for skeet shooting. Instead of fantasizing about the kind of European sport car you could buy for the amount of money you spend on your kids, consider ways to cut those costs. Here are some budget trimmers:

1 Christmas in January

When is the best time to buy Christmas presents? Why after Christmas, of course. Stock up for next year. Just make sure you don’t buy this year’s fad. By next year that toy will be as cool as a Beanie Baby.

2 Pack up to Travel

Whether on a plane or in the car, buying food while on route to your destination is going to be expensive. Pack up snacks and lunches for the kids. Yes, airlines do allow you to bring food aboard.

3 Know When to Clothe ‘Em

The best time to buy kid clothes are February and August. That’s when most stores put their stuff on sale. The key here is to think ahead to the season you are buying for. Buying a coat will be cheap in the summer, but you’re kid will be bigger by the time they need it. Think about buying a size larger.

4 Don’t Wait in Line, Buy Diapers and Formula Online

Skip the store for baby needs and buy online. If you hunt around you’re guaranteed to get a better price.

5 A Home Cooked Meal

Dining out costs 6 to 10 times more than eating at home. Start treating a dinner out as a treat. Also try more ethnic food. It’s generally cheaper than, say, steakhouses, and it will teach your kids an appreciation for a broad range of foods.

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Parenting While Poor

Adrienne Martini — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:30:00 GMT

Fingers are easy to point when it comes to poverty in the developed world. But once you start to unpack the issue, it's hard to know exactly where that finger ought to aim. No, child welfare isn't a sexy topic. Still, we ought to be able to pay just a little bit of attention to something that has a negative impact on kids.

This piece by Gaylynn Burroughs in the Huffington Post breaks down the larger fears that a poor parent deals with on a daily basis. It's a sobering reality check for those of us who infrequently worry that our kids will get sucked into our state's child protective service system because we can't afford to feed them.

Sadly, Burroughs doesn't have any great solutions on offer because the problem is complex enough to not have an easy fix. Still, a little education can't hurt, right?

Gasp! Childhood Obesity Not Exploding

Kelly Mills — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:10:00 GMT

Hey, remember how a little while back we were told childhood obesity was a horrific epidemic ravaging the land? And then every thirty seconds or so a study and accompanying news story would appear, saying that juice or distant mothers or text messaging was one of the causes? (Side note: News outlets almost always use one of maybe three pictures of overweight kids for these stories. I do hope those kids are getting royalties or something.) It seemed like you almost couldn't go a week without at least one "such-and-such is contributing to the fattening of our youth" story appearing somewhere.

Well, now there's more news in the kid and weight front. Apparently childhood obesity has leveled off. In fact, the rates of obesity have remained basically unchanged since 1999. The experts say it's too soon to get all hopeful, but maybe public health campaigns are perhaps responsible for the leveling. I don't know--I'd like to hear an alternative theory. Oh, but racial and economic disparities do persist, and poor folks and those in certain ethnic groups are still more likely to be obese. And we can probably in part thank the fast food industry and the dearth of healthy food options in lower income communities for that.

Political Nanny: Mike Huckabee's Resurrection

Madeline Holler — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:11:00 GMT

Is this the second coming of Mike Huckabee? If so, expect him to descend from on high in 2 days, 16 hours, 6 minutes and 12 seconds ... or less.

He's launching Huck PAC, a political action committee that will support conservative candidates. He says this includes support of John McCain. No word on continuing the call to tinker with the Constitution as he was once so interested in doing.

Political Nanny confesses to missing little Mikey, not for his political insight or "fair" tax promises, but for his humor, charm and willingness to defend poor people and children of undocumented workers. Watching the McCain has made the Republican playgroup rather dry.

Is Child No. 3 a Luxury Good?

Madeline Holler — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:31:00 GMT

If there's one person who has made the child/commerce connection, it's Pamela Paul. She's the author of Parenting, Inc. and Babble contributor with a dispatch this week that, and perhaps I'm speaking only for myself here, reassured those of us parents who never managed to follow through on the baby sign language classes, thereby condemning our children to low IQs and drool.

Well, she's digging in deeper to the idea of kids and cost in a recent Washington Post essay, where she's talking about the status of the third child, particularly for those raising their families in expensive cities. Apparently, Baby No. 3 is something of a luxury good. Or, as some would believe, a completely insane, misguided, poorly thought out idea that she and her husband -- New York City dwellers and parents of two -- will nonetheless be adding to their lives.

Kids these days are expensive (private schools! nannies! 70 new toys a year!) and they take up precious real-estate. So no wonder, she argues, there's the perception that a third (or fourth or sixth) child is an achievement bestowed only on the fabulously wealthy. It's also something people of means are largely doing, rather than the recession-sensitive middle-class. The showoffs!

From washingtonpost.com

It's true that, following in the designer maternity clothes of such fecund celebrities as Posh Spice (three kids) and Angelina Jolie (speculatively six), most of the people going for a third baby are well-heeled moms and their high-salaried husbands. A February analysis of Current Population Survey data by the Council on Contemporary Families found that in the past 10 years, the top-earning 1.3 percent of the population has seen an uptick in families with three or more children. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 12 percent of upper-income women had three children or more in 2002, compared with only 3 percent in 1995.

She also cites that breathtaking stat that each child costs on average $204,060 to house, clothe, educate and entertain until the age of 18. (Jeez, my kids are the ones holding THAT number down ...)

So what do you think? Did you trade in financial security and your Birken bag for a third child? Are large families just for crazy ladies like Angelina and that Mormon mom in the RV?

Image: Celebrityhack.com