Children from poor families generally do a lot worse than children from affluent families. They are more likely to develop behavior problems, to score lower on standardized tests, and to become adults in need of public assistance. Susan Mayer asks whether income directly affects children's life chances, as many experts believe, or if the factors that cause parents to have low incomes also impede their children's life chances. She explores the question of causation with remarkable ingenuity. First, she compares the value of income from different sources to determine, for instance, if a dollar from welfare is as valuable as a dollar from wages. She then investigates whether parents' income after an event, such as teenage childbearing, can predict that event. If it can, this suggests that income is a proxy for unmeasured characteristics that affect both income and the event. Next she compares children living in states that pay high welfare benefits with children living in states with low benefits. Finally, she examines whether national income trends have the expected impact on children. Regardless of the research technique, the author finds that the effect of income on children's outcomes is smaller than many experts have thought. Mayer then shows that the things families purchase as their income increases, such as cars and restaurant meals, seldom help children succeed. On the other hand, many of the things that do benefit children, such as books and educational outings, cost so little that their consumption depends on taste rather than income. Money alone, Mayer concludes, does not buy either the material or the psychological well-being that children require to succeed.

The Children Money Can Buy covers decades of dramatic societal change in foster care and adoption, including the pendulum swings regarding open adoption and attitudes toward birth parents, the gradual acceptance of gay and lesbian adoption, the proliferation of unregulated adoption facilitators in the U.S., ethical concerns related to international adoption, and the role money inevitably plays in the foster care and adoption systems. Special attention is given to the practice of “baby brokering” and the accompanying exorbitant finder’s fees and financial incentives encouraging birth mothers to relinquish (or pretend that they are planning to relinquish) their babies that permeate much of U.S. infant adoption today. The Children Money Can Buy illuminates the worlds of foster care and adoption through the personal stories Moody witnessed and experienced in her many years working in the foster care and adoption systems. These compelling stories about real people and situations illustrate larger life lessons about the way our society values—and fails to value—parents and children. They explore the root of ethical problems which are not only financially driven but reflect society’s basic belief that some children are more valuable than others. Finally, Moody makes a plea for change and gives suggestions about how the foster care and adoption systems could work together for the benefit of children and families.

In the “Pocket Money Project,” researchers from four countries, Japan, Korea, China, and Vietnam collaborated and studied how children in those four countries were involved with money, combining various research methods and approaches. What our project tries to present throughout this book is that money is not only just a tool of exchange in the context of the market economy; but, it also serves as a tool to mediate human relationships in individual cultures; and the tool is used and mediated by norms. The structure of the norms differs among cultures, and the same action has different meanings; thus, when the structure of norms in a culture is identified, the meaning of an action in the culture becomes clear. The research practice of “the Cultural Psychology of Differences” does not aim to create inventories of static differences. When a researcher, who is also a member of a specific culture, witnesses common behavior (cultural practices) among the others belonging to a different culture, the researcher is surprised, and, at the same time, reflects on his or her own common behavior (cultural practices); by doing so, mutual understanding and empathy are deepened, and this is exactly what “the Cultural Psychology of Differences” aims to do. Culture of the others appears dynamically, swaying ourselves; theorizing such a process is the task of our “Cultural Psychology of Differences”. We believe this practice of understanding different cultures will provide a practical prescription for mutual understanding through tensions and surprise not only for psychology but also for members of the countries that historically and constantly have had strained relationships. "Cultural Psychology of Differences” is the ideal that cultural psychology to study the relationships between mind and culture should be pursued in the future.

TEACHING CHILDREN MONEY MATTERS HOW CAN ADULTS HELP THEIR CHILDREN LEARN TO AVOID CREDIT CARD DEBT AND BE BETTER PREPARED TO HANDLE THEIR OWN FUTURE FINANCES? All adults would like a secure financial future for their children. Throughout this book, you will find numerous ideas, techniques, strategies and lessons that will provide answers to those very questions. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, teacher or student, you will find ideas and resources to begin understanding how to better help your children manage their money and have secure financial futures. In order to teach our children how to handle their finances, we need to educate ourselves and use available resources on the topic. Let this book GUIDE you to do just that. Deanna W. Schwartzman and Deanna M. Suckow are former teachers who have retired, each after more than a quarter-century in the classroom. Their experiences have been with regular and special education students. Each has been married for almost 50 years. Their current total of grandchildren stands at nine. It was with these grandchildren in mind that they began the research project which has culminated in this book. They were determined that their grandchildren have the knowledge of money management for a successful, well-informed financial future. With all these grandchildren and the present day economy, they joined together to write Teaching Children Money Matters (a resource guide for parents, grandparents, teachers and students) and its companion book, What Every Preteen, Teenager and Young Adult Needs to Know to Avoid Credit Card Debt (21 statements that may change how the future generations handle money to secure their future finances.)

Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple have written the definitive book on child poverty in New Zealand. Dr Russell Wills, Children’s Commissioner Between 130,000 and 285,000 New Zealand children live in poverty, depending on the measure used. These disturbing figures are widely discussed, yet often poorly understood. If New Zealand does not have ‘third world poverty’, what are these children actually experiencing? Is the real problem not poverty but simply poor parenting? How does New Zealand compare globally and what measures of poverty and hardship are most relevant here? What are the consequences of this poverty for children, their families and society? Can we afford to reduce child poverty and, if we can, how? Jonathan Boston and Simon Chapple look hard at these questions, drawing on available national and international evidence and speaking to an audience across the political spectrum. Their analysis highlights the strong and urgent case for addressing child poverty in New Zealand. Crucially, the book goes beyond illustrating the scale of this challenge, and why it must be addressed, to identifying real options for reducing child poverty. A range of practical and achievable policies is presented, alongside candid discussion of their strengths and limitations. These proposals for improving the lives of disadvantaged children deserve wide public debate and make this a vitally important book for all New Zealanders.