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How to Budget Before and During Pregnancy
Expenses to Consider During and After PregnancyHow to Budget for Baby CostsExpect the UnexpectedStarting a family is an exciting prospect, but one that can also cause anxiety. How do you prepare for being financially responsible for a whole new person?Whether you're already in prenatal classes or just beginning to envision a future of shopping for baby clothes and choosing the perfect crib, one thing is certain: Preparation is key. Budgeting before and during pregnancy to get ready for your future new family member can help ensure you welcome the baby without too much financial stress.Expenses to Consider During and After PregnancyWhile the latest jogging stroller and nursery decor may be fun to shop for, there's a wide range of costs during and after pregnancy to be aware of. From health care and work leave to diapers and onesies, these expenses will need to be part of your budget as you prepare for childbirth and beyond.Costs During PregnancyOut-of-pocket health care: Your health insurance may cover things like ultrasounds and prenatal vitamins, but you should also look into additional costs like parenting classes, body pillows and maternity massages (you deserve it). Also keep in mind that you'll have to meet your deductible before your health insurance kicks in with coverage for maternity care.Maternity clothes: Think beyond fashion and include items like new shoes and compression socks in your budget planning. Also consider hand-me-downs from friends or family, or online sites like ThredUp that carry discounted new and secondhand maternity clothes.Baby gear: Subtract any adorable ensembles you may receive at baby showers, and you'll still have a lot to shop for: clothes, toys, crib, sleep monitor, stroller, baby-proofing for your home and a car seat are all on the essentials list.Parental leave: Employed mothers-to-be may be eligible for unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act and additional state provisions, but the rules differ depending on the employer, how long you've worked with the company and other factors. Partners may also be eligible for some parental leave depending on where they live and where they work. That doesn't mean all your time off will be paid, however. Consider saving up sick days and vacation time to help cover your monthly expenses during your time off work. Also keep in mind that if a doctor requires bed rest for the mother-to-be, this could affect your finances for days, weeks or even months. Check with your employer to see what type of leave they allow, and find out from your state if any benefits will be paid during your time off work. California, for example, provides eight weeks of paid leave at about 60% to 70% of an eligible employee's salary. Short-term disability insurance, which you may be able to get from your employer or on your own, may also be worth considering if you predict you could have a difficult pregnancy.Costs of Giving BirthHospital birth: The costs of giving birth in a hospital can vary widely depending on the health insurance you carry and how smoothly the birth goes. If you're in the hospital, even the most uncomplicated birth can run up a tab. On average, out-of-pocket costs to deliver a baby for those with employer-provided insurance run nearly $4,600—more if you need a caesarean section, and much more with any complications—according to the journal Health Matters. Uninsured costs can be drastically higher, so if you're not covered by an employer, look into health insurance plans provided through the federal government's marketplace (you can still get coverage if you sign up while already pregnant, or within 60 days of delivering).Home birth: If you opt for an at-home childbirth experience, a midwife delivery could cost you nearly 70% less than the typical hospital tab. Keep in mind, however, that between 23% and 37% of women who go this route end up with a hospital visit to aid the labor anyway.Costs After Having a BabyHealth insurance: Once the little one arrives, it's time to add them to your health insurance. Employer-provided health insurance gives you 30 days post-delivery to put them on your plan; marketplace insurance allows 60 days.Diapers: Not the most pleasant expectation of expecting, but an undeniably necessary one. Budget for more than you think you'll need. Lots more.Clothes: Newborns grow quickly during the first year in particular.Child care: Because you may be headed back to work, and because you can take breaks too. Full-time child care can be expensive; research different options in your area to get a range of costs and options.Formula and food—and not just for the baby: You can meal-plan for yourself ahead of time to conquer that part of your budget well in advance. Of course, you may want to leave some leeway for takeout too.Their future: It's not too early to start researching tax-advantaged 529 plans and other college investment options. Even regularly contributing a small amount when you're juggling other post-childbirth costs will get you in the habit of saving for what is likely to be one of your most expensive costs as a parent. You might also consider programs like Upromise, which treats your credit card use like a rewards card for your kids' college fund; you can even link your 529 account for boosted benefits.How to Budget for Baby CostsBudgets come as a breeze for some people; for others, there are strategies and apps galore to help you with the task. Regardless, add a baby to the picture and budgeting inevitably gets more complex. If you've never had a budget before, now is the time to start.1. Map out your spending on paper. Begin by following where each dollar goes so you account for your spending. Go through bank and credit card statements and hold on to your receipts so you can physically see where your money goes each month. Apps like You Need a Budget can be particularly helpful during this beginning stage.2. Find a budgeting method that works. It might be a good time to assign a job for every dollar with zero-based budgeting or divvy up your earnings into different accounts. The 50/30/20 rule divides your budget into necessities, discretionary items and a third category for debt payments and savings. Research a few strategies and choose one you'll be able to stick with long-term.3. Check your health insurance. Insurers technically have to cover childbirth and maternity care, but coverage differs from one plan to the next. Check out the details for your provider's coverage, and add your spouse's insurance as secondary coverage if you feel it necessary. Adding a family member to an insurance plan will likely increase the cost, so find out what additional longer-term insurance costs you may be facing.4. Spend and save wisely. For starters, buy diapers in bulk for significant cost savings (or consider going the cloth-diaper route), and use free samples and coupons. Beyond baby costs, come up with ways to save money daily and monthly, and be sure you have an emergency fund in place for unexpected necessary expenses.5. Consider any income changes. If either parent plans to work less during child-rearing years, that will need to be a major factor in your number-crunching.Expect the UnexpectedThe unexpected costs associated with pregnancy and child-rearing can throw off even the best-planned budgets. A budget will still be an enormous advantage, as will putting aside emergency funds and diligently covering all the bases we mentioned here—but unpredictable financial needs will likely arise at some point. You may find yourself taking out a loan or using credit cards for expenses, but doing so responsibly doesn't have to put you in a difficult financial position or hurt your credit.As you consider your finances for the coming years, keep your credit in mind. Adding free credit monitoring and focusing on paying down debts can boost your creditworthiness and open doors for future loans, perhaps for a new home or a bigger car in the garage.Kids pick up on your financial practices early (usually by age 3), so getting your budget and credit in order now can make teaching them about money easier later on. Budgeting before and during your pregnancy doesn't mean parenting will be cheap—but it does mean you'll be more prepared when your priceless little one arrives.The original article was published here.
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Women and Credit 2021: How the Pandemic Affected Women’s Lives—and Finances
Credit Trends in 2020: Credit Card Debt Down, Scores UpWomen’s Finances in 2020: Opportunities and ChallengesWhat Women Are Saying About Money in 2020In the world of credit, women have come a long way in a short time. Not until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was signed in 1974 did women gain full access to the financial marketplace, including being able to take out a loan in their own name without a male cosigner.But the COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the many ways in which the road to equality is long and fraught. Before the pandemic hit, 46% of working women were employed in low-wage jobs, compared with 37% of working men, according to an analysis of federal data by the Brookings Institution. Partly because many low-wage jobs couldn't be done from home when states issued stay-at-home orders last year, women faced steeper job losses than men.In 2020, the unemployment rate among women aged 20 and older shot up from 3.1% in February to 15.5% in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's compared with a jump from 3.2% in February to 13.1% in April among men in the same age group.While women faced many financial challenges in 2020, government relief and changes in spending habits brought on by the pandemic may have also afforded some greater flexibility to reduce expenses and pay down debt. Using Experian credit data and the results of an exclusive survey conducted by Experian in February 2021, here's a look back at how the pandemic has affected women's finances and credit during this unprecedented year.Credit Trends in 2020: Credit Card Debt Down, Scores UpThe COVID-19 pandemic brought with it swift and startling economic distress. According to the Federal Reserve, employment shrank by 20 million jobs between February and May 2020. Meanwhile, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP, or the value of goods and services the country produces in a year) fell 10% in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 alone, the biggest decrease ever recorded.Despite the grim global economic picture, and the difficulties many consumers faced due to lost jobs and income, Experian data shows that on average, debt dropped and credit scores grew in 2020. Credit card debt fell 14% from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020, and average credit utilization—the amount of debt individuals carry compared with their credit limit—fell 12%. Consumers also improved their payment habits: The average portion of credit accounts that were 90 to 180 days past due dropped by 53% from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020.Source: ExperianPayment history and credit utilization are the two main factors in a consumer's credit score. Less debt and more on-time payments led credit scores to increase on average in 2020. The average FICO® Score rose from 703 to 710 between 2019 and 2020, a much larger increase than the average one point per year gain over the past 10 years.Women's Finances in 2020: Opportunities and ChallengesThe pandemic has affected consumers in markedly different ways. While some lost jobs and paychecks, others benefited from slashed expenses amid steady income. The economic fallout from the pandemic has resulted in a split experience among consumers: About half of adults report that their financial situation is about the same as it was at the start of the pandemic, compared with 21% that say it's worse, according to a March 2021 Pew Research Center survey. Yet half of adults not in retirement say they will have more difficulty achieving their long-term financial goals as a result of the pandemic, according to the same survey.This division in experience is true of both consumers in general and of women in particular, as we found in a February 2021 Experian survey of 347 adult women in the U.S. In our survey, 43% of women said their income stayed roughly the same between March 2020 and February 2021, and 21% said it increased. Additionally, 37% of women said their expenses stayed the same, and 1 in 5 said their expenses went down during the pandemic.But women also experienced many challenges. Among survey respondents, 24% said they have less savings, 18% said they were unable to earn as much money because their industry was affected by the pandemic, and 17% said they have more debt. Of those who said their expenses rose during the pandemic, the most common categories of increased spending were groceries (35%), takeout and restaurant meals (34%) entertainment like movies and streaming services (21%) and utilities (21%).Source: ExperianWomen have also dealt with specific concerns during the pandemic as a result of the caregiving and domestic work they are still more likely to take on than men. More women than men have left the workforce completely: 2.7 million women between March and September 2020, compared with 1.7 million men, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Women may decide to quit working entirely to care for sick or aging parents, oversee remote schooling for their children, look after small children unable to go to daycare or manage the household. As a result, female participation in the workforce has not been this low since 1988, according to one NPR analysis.What Women Are Saying About Money in 2020But even among women who lost jobs, some have taken the chance to pursue paths they might not have otherwise.Margo Gabriel, 34, was laid off from her job as a finance assistant at MIT in Boston in February 2020. She had worked there for about five years, and her first step upon learning of her layoff was to seek work in other departments at the university—only to find, when the pandemic hit weeks later, that those positions were suddenly much harder to come by."When I lost my job, I was so embarrassed," she says. "I had to really come to terms with separating my identity from my job."Gabriel had planned to travel to Lisbon, Portugal, in December 2020, but after losing her job, she decided to take a leap and move to Lisbon in the fall instead. She now makes a living as a writer and editor for U.S. publications in Lisbon, continuing work she had done on the side while working for MIT.Across the world, outside Atlantic City, New Jersey, Rachel Kramer Bussel, 45, also made some changes as a result of the pandemic. In 2020, knowing her expenses would be far reduced due to canceled travel plans, Bussel cut her nonessential expenses drastically. As a result, she paid off the remaining $35,000 of a total $80,000 in tax debt she had accrued and was slowly eliminating via a monthly payment plan."If there wasn't the pandemic and I had done all my weddings and travel that I was going to throughout the year, I wouldn't have been able to pay it off plus do all those things," Bussel says. "And I know I wouldn't have canceled them just to save money."There's no single story that illustrates how COVID-19 has affected women in the U.S., and the many consequences of the pandemic will take more time to unravel. But as vaccines become commonplace and travel begins again, there is hope that more women will have the chance to pursue their goals, financial and otherwise, with the pandemic behind them.The original article was published here.
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Experian Celebrates International Women’s Week Around the Globe
A year ago, as we celebrated International Women’s Day at Experian, none of us could have predicted what the year ahead had in store for us. It has been a year that has repeatedly tested us across so many facets of our lives. It has been a year that has reinforced the importance of our resilient and inclusive culture. And, it has been a year, that despite the unsettled environment, we at Experian have made progress.This year, as we kick-off our celebrations, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the passion, commitment and perseverance of our inspiring women and their allies who have contributed to that progress. Experian is celebrating International Women’s Day with employee-led activities around the world spearheaded by our Women in Experian employee resource group.We are also embracing this year’s theme of #ChooseToChallenge and started at the top of our house with our Chief Executive Officer, Brian Cassin, hosting a discussion between the inspiring women of Experian’s Board of Directors. The discussion focused on how to drive positive change and future growth. This event, and the participation of our board members, was reflective of Experian’s overall commitment to diversity. Each of our female board members shared what they will #ChooseToChallenge this year.Ruba BornoI #ChooseToChallenge the idea that opportunities are limited“Every opportunity is a gift. I choose to challenge the idea that those gifts are finite. Every time I climb a ladder, I want to keep that ladder behind me so someone else can climb it and we can rise together.”Alison BrittainI #ChooseToChallenge us all to become better allies“International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to reflect on the things that we can do, both individually and collectively, to champion change, support our colleagues and make a positive difference. Every day we need to strive to create a culture that supports inclusivity, so that everyone can unlock their potential and perform at their best, regardless of their background, gender, ethnicity or how they identify. We can become better allies by challenging the barriers to diversity and celebrating difference.”Caroline DonahueI #ChoosetoChallenge gender inequity “As a woman in tech, I was fortunate to have several amazing mentors, most of whom were men and my direct supervisors. They supported me and helped me thrive as a single parent with a global travel schedule. One of my motivations in joining the Experian board was recognizing that Experian has an amazing culture and believes in and supports women and their careers. Experian is committed to diversity and inclusion and knows that a diverse workforce creates better outcomes for employees and customers. I know we can achieve 50% amazing women at all levels at Experian, just as we have created great diversity on the board, including my fellow female board members. I am thrilled to be a part of this company and this journey.” Deirdre MahlanI #ChooseToChallenge obstacles to being heard“International Women’s Day is an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the many roles that women play in contributing to families, culture, work and government. This year’s theme, #ChooseToChallenge resonates strongly with me. As a leader and a woman, I aim to live honestly and courageously and through my actions inspire others to live according to their own truth. We all have a role to play in ensuring we can each contribute and use our voice authentically. The many talents, leadership qualities and authentic voices of women at Experian in powering solutions will continue to be key to the success of Experian.”Our goals for International Women’s Week 2021 are to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness against bias and act against inequality. This week is an opportunity to reflect and contribute to our continuous journey for diversity, inclusion and belonging, and most of all, Choose to Challenge, because from challenge comes change.The original article was published here.
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Expanding Our Commitment to Support Greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We aspire to be one of the best companies in the world to work for – a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that our people feel proud to be part of. We have over 17,800 people in 44 countries, 94 different nationalities and an age profile that spans 5 generations. With such a broad, multi-cultural environment, we want everyone to feel supported, included and able to grow and succeed.Today we have published our first Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Report, an opportunity for us to reinforce our commitment to making Experian a place where everyone can be themselves at work – and to map the progress we are making on improving our diversity as a business.The events of the past year have shown the uneven impact of the global pandemic on certain communities. It has also demonstrated how important it is for our people to feel safe, secure, and connected to one another. This has strengthened our determination to continue building our ‘people first’ culture to be even better than it is today.We have taken the opportunity to stand back and evaluate our work on DEI, and this year we will focus on five priority areas which include, assigning executive level sponsors; developing a better data set to understand our demographics; reviewing our hiring practices both internally and externally; increasing transparency and accountability; and empowering our people to help us create a more diverse and inclusive business. We have also set specific diversity, equity and inclusion targets to hold ourselves accountable and to monitor our progress.We know there’s always more work to do, but the steps we are taking are the right ones to move us forward. We have big ambitions as a company and achieving these rely on us having the widest range of talent possible. We know that If we continue to live up to our purpose and stay true to our diversity, equity and inclusion ambitions, we will make Experian a better and stronger company in the process.Read the full Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Report here.