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You are here: Home / Newsroom / Newsletters / Family Economics News - December 2006 / January 2007

Family Economics News - December 2006 / January 2007

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) works with land-grant university partners and others to advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities through national program leadership and Federal assistance. Among the Agency’s goals is to support increased economic opportunities and quality of life in rural areas. Family economics aligns with this goal by focusing on how individuals and families obtain and use resources such as money, time, human capital, material resources, and community services; by exploring the relationship between individuals and families and the larger economy; and by studying the impact of public issues, policies, and programs on family economic well-being.

Research/Program Evaluation

  • Adjusting for Living Costs Can Change Who Is Considered Poor 
  • Savings Between Cohorts: The Role of Planning

Education/Extension

  • National Consumers League: Life Smarts
  • The ASPIRA Community Wealth Development Initiative  
  • Thrive by Five: Teaching Your Preschooler About Spending and Saving 

Resources

  • AARP: Investment Fraud
  • Your Pharmacy Benefit: Make It Work For You 
  • Pyramid Schemes: Not What They Seem!
  • Wi$e Up
  • Caregivers Need More Care
  • 2006 EFERMA Conference: Proceedings
  • Rural America at a Glance
  • Savingsman: Ready With Retirement Savings Tips

Opportunities

  • Call for Papers:
    • Journal of Personal Finance     
    • Journal of Youth Development
    • Financial Counseling and Planning
    • Rural Realities
    • The Journal of Consumer Affairs - Financial Literacy: Public Policy and Consumers' Self- Protection.  
    • Journal of Family and Economic Issues/Consumer Finances  
    • Journal of Consumer Education
  • Funding:
    • National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®)
    • NASD Investor Education Foundation
    • MMI Education Foundation

Calendar

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Since poverty rates were first officially recorded, the prevalence of poverty has been historically greater in nonmetro than metro areas. However, adjusting the official poverty measure for cost-of-living differences reverses the rankings of metro and nonmetro poverty. Such a reversal could have important implications for the geographic and demographic distribution of Federal funding of poverty-based programs. 

Lack of planning is a crucial determinant of household wealth. Those who do not plan accumulate much smaller amounts of wealth than those who do some planning. Non-planners are disproportionately those with low education, low income, Black, or Hispanic. Those households were largely unaffected by changes in the stock  market  and,  generally, have been untouched by financial education programs instituted during the 1990's.  “Savings Between Cohorts: The Role of Planning,” a research paper from the Michigan Retirement Research Center, recommends that public policies that aim to stimulate retirement savings target those groups least likely to plan. Close to 30 percent of respondents in both cohorts have not given any thought to retirement, even though both are not far away from it.

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LifeSmarts — the ultimate consumer challenge — is an educational opportunity for teenagers to develop consumer and marketplace knowledge and skills in a fun way that rewards them for this knowledge. The program complements the curriculum already in place in high schools and is an ideal activity for classes, groups, clubs, and community organizations. LifeSmarts, run as a game-show style competition, is open to all teens in the U.S. in 9th-12th grades.  Teams of four to five teens compete in district and state matches with state winners going to national competition to vie for the national LifeSmarts title. LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League.

ASPIRA Association is the largest national Hispanic organization in the country. ASPIRA, whose name comes from the Spanish verb aspirer (“aspire”), is the only organization dedicated exclusively to the education and leadership development of Latino youth, and has launched a  Community Wealth Development Initiative. This initiative, directed at Latino youth and families in low-income communities where ASPIRA operates, uses a comprehensive array of programs to raise awareness of the need for community economic development. The initiative also provides training on entrepreneurship and financial education to low-income communities in six states and Puerto Rico.

The Credit Union National Association (in partnership with Cooperative Extension and credit union educators) has developed Thrive by Five: Teaching Your Preschooler About Spending and Saving. The program includes free activities and other resources for parents who want to encourage healthy attitudes about money in young children. Thrive by Five is a set of eight activities (available in both English and Spanish) for parents of preschoolers to begin teaching basic concepts of financial education. These activities, along with informational tips for working with this age group and concepts 5-year-olds need to know prior to entering kindergarten, are available online.

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Investors lose billions of dollars to investment fraud each year. Investors face increasingly complex and confusing scams. The fight against fraud never stops because each year con artists discover new ways to fleece the public. It pays to remember that if an investment opportunity sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Learn the warning signs that you should watch out for, and follow some steps before you invest.

The National Pharmaceutical Council and the Federal Citizen Information Center understand how confusing insurance coverage can be, and have prepared Your Pharmacy Benefit: Make It Work for You for older adults who may take multiple medications . This guide helps consumers compare different benefit plans so they can get the best coverage. The publication also features a worksheet to make comparing plan options easier.

Once a plan is decided on, this booklet explains what individuals can do if they have problems getting prescriptions filled, or if their plan will not cover their medication. A sample appeal letter is included as a guide. In addition, all of this important information is available in Spanish. Single copies or bulk quantities of Your Pharmacy Benefit: Make It Work for You (English and Spanish) are available free of charge for use in your education programs by using the special CSREES order form.

The Direct Selling Education Foundation, in cooperation with the National District Attorneys Association's Economic Crime Project and the Federal Trade Commission, has prepared tips for consumers on how to tell the difference between legitimate companies and pyramid schemes and how to protect themselves from these schemes.

Wi$e Up is a financial education demonstration project targeted to Generation X women, ages 22 to 35. The U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau developed Wi$e Up in support of the Department of Labor's Strengthening the Family Initiative. The Texas Cooperative Extension, under contract with the Women's Bureau, developed the project's curriculum and manages the Wi$e Up Web site.  

Family caregivers are the glue that holds together the long-term care system in the United States. Caregivers provide 70-80 percent of the care to the millions of sick and disabled adults, saving the country at least $250 billion each year in health care costs. Without these caregivers, there would be a health care crisis of enormous proportions. However, caregivers face many serious problems, including work overload, worry, stress, and financial difficulties. It is important for family caregivers to plan for their own retirement and know where they can find necessary resources.    

Eastern Family Economics and Resource Management Association (EFERMA) is a professional association for teaching, research, and outreach for faculty and students. EFERMA's mission is to unite family economics and resource management professionals, to stimulate personal and professional growth of members, and to expand the effectiveness of the career field. The primary business of EFERMA is a biannual conference. The proceedings from the 2006 EFERMA Conference in Knoxville are now available online.

Rural America at a Glance, 2006 Edition, highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. The brochure provides information on key rural conditions and trends for use by public and private decision makers and others in efforts to enhance the economic opportunities and quality of life for rural people and their communities.

Dressed in green tights, red shorts, and a dark flowing cape, "Savingsman" dashes across television screens like a speeding bullet offering tips on how to save for retirement. "Savingsman" is the lead character in a new series of public service announcements (PSA) sponsored by Choose to Save® (CTS), a national education program of the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute Education and Research Fund. Savingsman's exploits, and those of his trusty companion, the dog 401k-9, and all previous CTS video PSAs, are now archived and available free on the CTS Web site.

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  • National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE®) - Inquiries of particular interest to the foundation will be directly relevant to the outcomes of a national symposium NEFE® conducted last fall, titled “Closing the Gap between Knowledge and Behavior: Turning Education into Action.” Visit the  NEFE® Web site for more information about grants programs and symposium outcomes. Click on the “NEFE Grants Program” tab of the “Grantmaking” section. Download the symposium White Paper by clicking on the “Research & Strategy” tab of the Innovative Thinking action area. Note, NEFE conducts three grant cycles per year. The next deadline for submissions is December 5, 2006.

  • NASD Investor Education Foundation - For announcements, subscribe to the e-mail newsletter for periodic updates and announcements of new grant deadlines.

  • MMI Education Foundation - The foundation uses its resources to serve the public interest and strengthen the communities where we live and work.

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  • EFERMA Conference, February 28-March 1, 2008, Savannah, GA. Details pending.

  • Galaxy III, Indianapolis, IN, September 14-18.

 

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  • CSREES Contact: Jane Schuchardt, National Program Leader, CSREES-USDA

  • National Initiative “Financial Security in Later Life” Contact: Nancy M. Porter, Family Resource Management Specialist, Clemson University

  • Financial Literacy for Youth Contact: Erica Tobe, Program Leader for Financial Literacy & Housing, Michigan State University

  • Financial Security for All eXtension Contact: Debra Pankow, Family Economics Specialist, North Dakota State University

Back issues of Family Economics News are available.

To submit items for consideration for this newsletter, contact Jim Terry, Program Analyst, CSREES-USDA.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.

Last Updated: 12/03/2007