107: The impact of consumerism on children

A few weeks ago we talked with Dr. Brad Klontz about the 'money scripts' that we pass on to our children - perhaps unintentionally - if we fail to examine these and make conscious decisions about the messages we want to convey about money to our children.   Today we continue our series on the intersection of parenting and money with a conversation with Dr. Allison Pugh, whose doctoral dissertation (and subsequent book, Longing and Belonging: Parents, Children, and Consumer Culture) remain seminal works in this field even a decade after their publication.   In this interview, we take the position that advertising to children is happening - so what do we do with that?  How do children make meaning out of the messages sent to them through our consumerist culture?  How do parents attempt to resist the effects of this culture, and how successful are they?   In our next episode in this series we'll dig more deeply into the effects of advertising itself on children's brains, so stay tuned for that!   Book mentioned in the episode Longing and Belonging: Parents, Children, and Consumer Culture (Affiliate link).   Other episodes on this series This episode is the second in a series on the intersection of parenting and money. You can find other episodes in this series: 038: The Opposite of Spoiled 105: How to pass on mental wealth to your child 112: How to Set up a Play Room 115: Reducing the Impact of Advertising to Children 118: Are You Raising Materialistic Kids?   Jump to highlights 01:31 Introduction to Dr. Allison Pugh, sociologist and author of Longing and Belonging 03:28 Why nine in ten Americans think children want too many material things 10:24 The real theme in kids' consumer world: belonging, not status 17:21 The line between healthy mirroring and raising a sense of entitlement 21:25 Comparing Dr. Lareau's research to newer findings on low-income parenting 30:10 Symbolic deprivation vs. symbolic indulgence: how affluent and low-income parents talk about spending differently 40:37 Buying things to soothe our own childhood memories of not fitting in 46:45 What noblesse oblige means, and how wealthy families pass it on (or don't) 53:35 Talking through allowances, and whether they let parents off the hook 55:59 Windfall child-rearing: how unpredictable income, not just low income, makes poverty harder   References Auty, S., & Lewis, C. 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Buckingham & V. Tingstad (Eds.), Childhood and Consumer Culture (p.17-30). Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan. Elliott, S., Powell, R., & Brenton, J. (2015). Being a good mom: Low-income, Black single mothers negotiate intensive mothering. Journal of Family Issues 36(3), 351-370. Mayo, E., & Nairn, A. (2009). Consumer kids: How big business is grooming our children for profit. London, U.K.: Constable & Robinson. Opree, S.J., Buijzen, M., van Reijmersdal, E.A., & Valkenburg, P.M. (2014). Children’s advertising exposure, advertised product desire, and materialism: A longitudinal study. Communication Research 41(5), 717-735. Nairn, A., Bottomley, P., & Ormrod, J. (2010). “Those who have less want more. But does it make them feel bad?”: Deprivation, materialism and self-esteem in childhood. In D. Buckingham & V. Tingstad (Eds.), Childhood and Consumer Culture (p.194-208). Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan. Nairn, A., & Fine. A. (2004). Who’s messing with my mind? 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