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There is much debate on how much to tell your children about the current economy. It's the main focus of the news, it's talked about in school and we live in an area where many parents work for major financial institutions.
I feel it is important for children to understand the the current economic issues in an age appropriate fashion. But how do you explain the economy without instilling fear and insecurity? The Wall Street Journal has an interesting post on explaining the current economic mess to children. They posted an age appropriate guide to communication. Personally, I read through it and feel it's a bit too vague and over protective for the older ages. In fact, the messages really don't vary that much by age...go ahead and read for yourself....
At some point you need to involve your children in family finances. How do you prepare them for life situations by just comforting them and saying every thing is ok? There is an example in the WSJ article in which a father explains to his daughter they need to trim back a bit. His daughter made a list of all the things she could cut back on (movies, etc). The father reacted by telling her they weren't that bad off instead of complimenting her for her foresight. I would be thrilled if any of my children were mature enough to do that! Yes, you still have to reassure your child you are in control of your financial situation but children also need to do their share as part of the family unit. I'm not saying you send a 10 year old out to work but there are many ways a child can help out when times are rough. For example, if you cancel the lawn mowing service to save money, your child can take on that task etc.
We explained the economic crisis to our children the best way we could, afterall it's not that simple for even us to understand. I thought this post from the NY Times was helpful (although a bit slanted) when speaking to our children because it's written in layman's terms. Do they get it? Not fully but they do understand conceptually we are in a time of major belt tightening and we all need to do our share. So now when we shave a bit off their allowance and curb our dining out events they at least have a basic understanding of where we are coming from and are part of the "team". They may not like it but quite frankly, we're not loving it either.
Life is about ups and downs. If we keep telling our children everything is ok how will they ever learn to manage without us?
Kids and Money: How much do you tell them about the eoncomy?
Comments
Login or register to post a commentTell them what they NEED to know
I think we should tell them what we feel (as parents) they need to know. Depending on their age, I don't think they need to know the ins and outs of the situation but they should know that because of the economic crunch we are in, gas prices are high, toys, clothing, and many other things which we normally would have spent in the past now have cut down dramatically due to the prices going up. Things like that I feel they should atleast have an understanding of.
I mean I think if we explain that much to them, it could cut down on the explosive tantrums at the Target when they find out that "NO we can not afford that toy". It's just impossible especially with the more important things like copays, gas, and FOOD. By doing this we are at the same time teaching them how to set priorities (budgeting).
My advice is to: Write a list of things you need, want, and would love to have. That is, Need being the most important and top of the list priority, want coming in second, and would love to have the bottom least most important of the priority list.
We all have needs and wants, why not use this sluggish economy as a teaching tool for our children. Lets show them that yea, although we are in a money crunch at the moment, we can still enjoy our time, we just need to cut down on the spending. And then maybe when the economy picks back up, we will get maybe one or two of those would love to have's
The "how" matters
Although I don't have kids, I think that how you tell them things will influence how they think of it.
I have a 15 year old nephew and for his birthday in May this year, I asked him what he wanted and he very casually said "nothing really. Anything is fine". I asked the same question about Christmas and he had the same response but this time with a noted "...you can save it all for my 16th birthday".
I thought it was sweet that he was aware that things do add up. Of course, I hope he hasn't been watching "my super sweet 16" on MTV either!
You can make clever cutbacks. For example if a certain brand of cereal is too expensive, you can choose an alternative and say that it's a healthier choice. They might think for their bodies but you'll know it's for your pocket.
xoxo Anje
"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle, but if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best"
Marilyn Monroe