Life Cycle Hypothesis : The Life-Cycle Stages Of A Household

In our world of instant gratification, people got to save money any way they can. People that shop online need to wait 48 hours before making an impulsive purchase. They are spending too much money on clothes, shoes, and accessories. One can start by cleaning out closets and sell the items that not being worn. In 7 Things Young People Are Spending More Money On These Days, Sam Becker states,This has led many to think that they are a bunch of entitled brats who refuse to grow up. But we have to take into account that millennials are saddled with more debt than any other previous generation, have grown up in a post-9/11 world of perpetual war, and entered the workforce during one of the worst economic stretches in American history. It hasn’t been all beach trips and Mike’s Hard Lemonades, though things are getting better (Becker, sec. 3). He says, The millennials

When individuals borrow money or incur debt to purchase items that will be used immediately, this is called consumer credit (Einstein, 2013). Referring to purchases that are consumable such as a meal, an automobile, or other personal needs, consumer credit differs from a home mortgage or business investment (Einstein, 2013). In society today, many people live from paycheck to paycheck and often rely on credit to get them through times requiring additional funds such as Christmas, birthdays, weddings, and other events. Although this practice can be costly and create further financial problems, consumers use credit to obtain necessities, as well as items that they simply desire to purchase.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss one of the tasks of family development and the life cycle theories. The task I chose was assuming mutual responsibility for child care and nurturing.

Developed by Carter and McGoldrick (1988), the family life cycle views dysfunction in relation to normal functioning, It frames problems within the course of the family as a system moving through time. The individual life cycle takes place within the family life cycle (Carter & McGoldrick, 1988, p. 4). The foundation of the theory assumes that all families go through predictable change precipitated by life events and sometimes-unpredictable events (Azar, 2017b, 6). As these changes are occurring, the family must be able to adapt accordingly in order to avoid dysfunction. This may involve tasks that must be negotiated as they become more complex, and new roles and operations.

When it comes to the data and methods, this study used the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which is a repeated survey that includes the information on household income and wealth holdings; the Federal Reserve conducts this survey every three years. To test the hypothesis there are

Attitudes about spending changed drastically. At this point, more people had access to credit cards because credit card companies stopped limiting their customer base to the wealthy, and began issuing cards to people with moderate to low incomes (Garon, 2012, CNN World). This gave Americans a way to purchase goods and services immediately, even if they didn’t have the cash on hand. The seven to eight percent savings rate maintained in the United States from the 1960s to the 1980s plummeted to less than two percent, and remained so until the first decade of the 21st century (Melicher & Norton, 2014, p. 168).

After looking through the different stages of McGoldrick’s Stages of the Family Life Cycle, there are many different stages that the McCandless fit into. However, one stages that really stuck out to me was the leaving home: emerging young adults. This stage was very important for the family because a event happening through this stage completely shifted their entire family dynamic (McGoldrick, Carter, & Garcia-Preto, 2011). During this stage, Chris went off to college, became dependent on his, graduated, disappeared from his life to complete his grand adventure, and passed away. Growing up, Chris and Carnie had to live in a hostile environment where their parents were always fighting over one another. He was able to break away from that poisonous

Not only for those seeking to retire, the business motivated economy has transfigured how one must live in order to live comfortably. Building credit through credit cards is often perceived to be the only way in order for a buyer to appear credible. Yet in the quest for the optimal credit score people enter into debt. Considering and evaluating the risks and benefits to credit cards may contribute to opinions towards those flimsy pieces of plastic.

Evaluation: This article, posted on April 1, 2016, was originally published on TheConversation.com. Throughout the article, the author cites sources that come from 2012-2017, with the majority of them coming from 2015-2016. Moreover, these cited websites are credible, well-known, and have information that can be corroborated with other sources. Some of these sites included The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and a report from the Federal Reserve. Moving on, the author, Mechele Dickerson, is an expert on this topic. Dickerson received both her B.A. and J.D. from Harvard University and currently works as a professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin. Here, she teaches classes on consumer law, debt and spending to law and undergraduate students. In her current research, she explores causes and consequences of consumer debt and how the culture

     With religion playing an important role in the average Americans lives, consumerism began to grow in the white and blue-collar workers. Their families started to spend extra cash instead of saving it. Washing machines, dryers, and new cars became commonly bought items. The Homeowner who needed some extra cash, but couldn’t work enough hours to purchase that item when he needed it, started to use personal credit. This began the craze of credit cards. ”The Diner Club” introduced the first credit card in 1950: By the 1970s the ubiquitous plastic credit card had revolutionized personal and family finance”(Henretta, pg.790). The awareness of addition free time was aware

The Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is a triennial cross-sectional survey of U.S. families. The study is sponsored by the Federal Reserve Board in collaboration with the Department of the Treasury. The survey data include information on family incomes, net worth, balance sheet components, credit use, pensions, income, and demographic characteristics (Bricker, et al., 2014). A strong attempt is made to select families from all economic levels. In addition, information is also included from related surveys of pension providers and the earlier surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve Board. Data from the Survey of Consumer Finances is utilized by the Federal Reserve and other branches of the government to conduct analysis. In addition, economic research centers utilize the SCF to conduct scholarly work (Board of Governors, 2014).

We are all University Students that currently live in Halifax Nova Scotia, but have all grown up in various places. Two of our members are from Ontario and the remaining members from various parts of China. Given this geographical separation, our group has some obvious diversity in our individual consumer profiles. This is partly due to our different cultures and values. Our families also greatly influence our contrasting consumer profile - with our differing ethnical backgrounds, different social classes and varying religions. Conversely, we all fit into the age bracket of 18-25 so share some similar purchasing behaviour as millennial consumers (Kardes et la., 2011, pg 38). We have all been apart of many of the same world changes, such as 911 and global warming. This greatly sways our prespective on which products we can identify with and our preferences. Likewise, we all are at the same life stage (Kardes et la., 2011, pg 8). We are all young adults, finishing up university and starting our independent lives with limited disposible incomes. We tend to make most of our purchases online, allowing us to find the best deals in the least amount of time. Most of us find that food is our number one expense and value the bonds people make while sharing a meal. Many of us find it difficult balancing our busy lifestyles and school, but work to covercome these challenges. All of these inflencers guide our purchasing habits.

Americans live in an era of out of control spending that is driven by materialism. Children at a young age become well acquainted with the idea that owning the newest and best puts a greater amount of value into one’s life. Unfortunately, for many, this negatively translates into adulthood. Materialism is the root of millions of American citizen’s insurmountable amounts of debt. People have the desire to appear to their family and friends as though they are living lifestyles of luxury, when in reality, they are simply digging themselves a hole of debt they will never escape. But not only is trying to keep up a wealthy persona costly, it also entails a vicious, draining cycle that constantly leaves the consumer

Schor describes what she calls “competitive consumption” and that the real reason for this economic crisis is due to the desire for things we do not need. When it comes to the topic of financial crisis in an American household, most of us will readily agree that national debt has affected millions of people. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of where the money was spent that cause this economic difficulty. I find Schor’s belief of heavily indebted consumers to splurge on luxury items inaccurate. On the other hand, Warren’s theory of cost living in different time periods is extremely useful because it sheds insight on the problems we are facing today, and the financial stability for numerous middle-class Americans is all too fragile.

“The average American owns 3.5 credit cards and $15,799 in credit card debt… totaling consumer debt of $2.43 trillion in the USA alone.” (Beckner). Debt forces many people into depression and worrying lives. People struggle to discover happiness through financing goods, but struggle even more to find a way out of debt. Through consumerism, people lose their finances in department stores, car dealerships, and much more. Most of the possessions people buy with credit cards become impractical within a few months. The void they search for is never really filled. Consumerism is just a way to get the economy going, without thinking of a person’s individual finance