Kids and the Kredit Krunch

Interesting article from msnbc.

The largest consumer marketing growth sector in recent years has been kids and youth. Easy credit and cheap manufacturing has meant that they have been bought all the products we were never able to own. They rarely hear 'no, we can't afford that.' Likewise parents have been able to assuage their guilt at working so much by buying kids everything they were never able to own themselves, leading to a best friend, rather than authoritarian style of parenting.

This extends all the way up to teens and beyond as young adults defer adult responsibilities, remain in the family home and spend their disposable income on fun stuff rather than bills.

The credit crunch looks set to change all that and could even have a wider impact on parent child relations.