No Money, Mo' Problems

Despite the cleverness of the title above (based on a late 90's hip hop song, for those who did not know) this post is about a serious matter.

Helen and I made our first baby purchases today at a garage sale and got a great deal on some stuff for Norbit. As happy as I was to get a bargain, it also got me thinking about the high cost of having a baby (especially if parents buy all new stuff), which in turn made me both thankful Helen and I have jobs and health insurance right now, and freaked out about how we're going to pay for everything over the next 18 years.

More than worrying about ourselves though, my thoughts went out to all the people who are unemployed in the worst economic recession of our lifetime. Even though the stats put the U.S. at about a 10% unemployment rate, I have to believe that the numbers are MUCH higher than that and if all the people who aren't working but wanted to were counted, we'd be looking at jobless rates closer to 20%, or 1 in every 5 people out of work.

Even stopgap measures like stimulus money or Census 2010 jobs are close to ending, which means more folks will be looking to make ends meet any way they can. I am sure no one expected the situation to be as bad as it has been or for it to last as long as it has. While I certainly understand what Puff Daddy and Biggie were saying back in the day about how mo' money equals mo' problems, having no money brings about just as many problems, if not more, as millions know all too well.