Financial Security and the Escalating Cost of Raising Kids

In South Korea, Couples Can Now Get A Government-Paid Nanny 

I’ve got a question for you. If you're a woman, do you want to get richer? I've got results of a study for you from the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis. They have a simple message for you ladies. If you want to get richer, here's all you got to do. Stay single. Don't have kids. Hey, look, They said it, not me. Their study shows that single women who do not have children average $65,000 in wealth. That compares to $57,000 for men who are single without kids. And, oh, by the way, single mothers, they don't have $65,000 grand on average. They don't have $57,000 on average. Single mothers, $7,000. So if you want to do damage to your personal finances, according to the Federal Reserve, have children. And if you want to make it even worse, get married. Hey, this is what they said, not me. I'm just the messenger.

And that message seems to be getting across in South Korea. There are fewer South Koreans having babies. It's gotten so bad that the mayor of Seoul wants to provide nannies to young couples because it costs $2,000 a month for babysitters in South Korea. By providing government paid nannies, it will reduce the expenses of child rearing - and he hopes, encourage more and more families to have children. Without enough children, the entire economy collapses. When there's not enough people in the workforce, there's not enough people to provide care to aging populations.