Athol Daily News – My Turn: Cost of child part of financial literacy

I usually skip over the Beacon Hill roll call page, but the headline on Jan. 20 caught my eye: “Students must take a financial literacy course,” proposed as a new requirement before graduation.

“The components of the curriculum would include the understanding of loans, borrowing money, interest, credit card debt and online commerce; the rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home; saving; investing; charitable giving; preventing identity theft; avoiding online scams; and basic understanding of cryptocurrencies.”

My first reaction was “what a good idea!” Although such education was not taught when I was in school, matters were much simpler then, and I learned all I needed to know as I went along.

What struck me after reading the description of what was to be taught was that they will not succeed in their aim because they have left out the one circumstance that as much as any other determines whether someone from a young age is burdened by poverty for a lifetime, particularly women. It is one that for most people is not a matter of bad luck, but bad choices and lack of planning.

I refer to the cost of having children. The costs of raising a child in terms of medical costs, child care, and loss of income is compounded if the child happens to be handicapped, but I don’t believe most young people have any idea of the financial costs of raising even the most healthy child. For a single parent or a young, working, low-wage couple, it can be crushing.

This is a thorny issue, I admit, because many parents don’t want their offspring to be educated about sex and birth control, but the cost to…