Weekend Links

Girls Spend Less Time Playing Outside Than Boys 

Excited about this new series!

Getting Emotional About Money - Lately, I'm quite obsessed with blogs about finance, budgeting, and building wealth. As I've learned to handle money on my own, I've realized just how emotional feelings about money can be, and how both what I've learned about money and how I feel about money largely comes from my parents. I think it is super important that, as individuals, we stop and reflect about this so that we can be smarter with our money.

The Unintended Consequences of Kristof's Anti-Sex Trafficking Crusade - and most anti-sex trafficking campaigns really 

Fashion and some thoughts from one of Wellesley's most fabulous ladies.

Class Differences in Spending on Children

Class Privilege and Parental Leave 

A guest post on A Cup of Jo, "I'm Not Sure if I Want Kids or Not," highlights something that all Republican men should be made more aware of: NOT ALL WOMEN WANT BABIES. Even one baby, let alone 10. But really, I thought the article would have been more aptly titled if it had been called something alone the lines of, "The Naivety of Thinking Motherhood Will Just Work Out." The author writes:

I never gave a thought to how all of these decisions would factor into MY ultimate motherhood decision, and now I realize how naive that was. It’s not like I thought the U.S. would suddenly turn into a parental utopia like France (check out Sharon Lerner's eye-opening book for more info about how seriously unfriendly America is to families), but I guess I still thought that whatever I decided, everything would work out.

That’s what everyone tells us, right? “You’ll find a way. You’ll make it work.”

Why do we consistently tell women that "they'll make it work." And why don't more people take the reasons why women often don't want to have children seriously, such as the fact that it might take away from their career or be difficult/impossible financially? I have no idea if the author would want to have children if she lived in a "parental utopia." But the factors in her decision would be much different, and it would be much more of a choice.