Noteworthy
Aug. 7, 2009 3:48 PM
Falling U.S. Birth Rates
In the face of economic uncertainty and rising job losses, some American families are electing to save money by having fewer children, according to recent statistics.
The Times's Sam Roberts writes that births in the United States declined in 2008. Over all, there were 68,000 fewer births recorded than in the year before.
“It is certainly too soon to tell if this economic crisis will result in a sharp drop in the birth rate,” said Carl Haub, senior demographer for the Population Reference Bureau, “but all the measures and indicators, along with the collapse of the mainstays of the economy, are much worse than in the 1970s.”
Aug. 6, 2009 7:39 PM
A Little Less Vogue
In 2007, when R.J. Cutler shot his documentary about Vogue, "The September Issue," the magazine published its largest issue ever. But fashion has since been enfeebled by reduced consumer demand brought on by the economic crisis. When the film comes out later this month, Cathy Horyn writes, the magazine's September 2009 issue will be hitting the newsstands looking like it has been on a strict diet.
A Vogue spokesman would not comment on the contents of the coming issue, but since the recession began, the magazine has run articles that highlight good buys and reflect tighter times.
Aug. 6, 2009 6:38 AM
Plumbers and Electricians Stay Afloat
Construction workers have been hit hard by the recession, but plumbers and electricians have been surviving thanks to the fact that some things absolutely have to be repaired, writes Robert Strauss.
“I’d say 75 percent of my business these days is repair or crisis work, but I guess that is O.K.," said Cliff Brookes, who runs a plumbing business in Haddonfield, N.J.
Aug. 5, 2009 6:30 PM
The Social Side of the Recession
Even though people are living with less, they still need to socialize -- perhaps even more than they did before.
Craig Glazer, who owns the Stanford and Sons comedy club in Kansas City, Kan., told The Atlantic that business is good these days because people want to laugh -- in fact, they need to laugh now more than ever.
And dating services are doing well, too. An article on Philly.com quoted Christie Nightingale of Premier Match as saying that people without jobs have more time to pursue relationships.
Aug. 5, 2009 6:00 PM
QUICK LINKS
NYT: Unexpected Gain in Factory Orders
Newsweek: Economic Crises From Bygone Eras
AP: The Cost of Raising a Child
Aug. 5, 2009 1:27 PM
Invisible Victims of Global Downturn
A group of workers is excluded in job statistics but is still suffering because of the global recession, Bharati Chaturvedi writes in an Op-Ed in The Times from Delhi, India.
As housing values and the cost of oil have fallen worldwide, so too has the price of scrap materials. Informal recyclers, the 15 million people who pick through garbage for metal, paper, cardboard and plastics, have seen their incomes plummet, writes Ms. Chaturvedi, founder and director of Chintan, a non-profit in Delhi.
Aug. 4, 2009 6:45 PM
Budget Leads to Blowup
Take a theater company beset by budget woes, subtract five jobs (including artistic director and company manager), add disgruntled performers, subtract subscribers and donors, and suddenly a beloved Milwaukee institution is at the center of a vicious storm.
For 50 years, the Skylight Opera Theater has had a devoted audience and loyal performers, Dan Wakin reports.
But $600,000 in budget cuts led to conflict that even unleashed some venom on Facebook.
No matter how (or if) all the disputes are resolved, the theater company is forever changed, even though Amy Jensen, a former finance director, sees something positive in it all. At least the company stirs passion.
Aug. 4, 2009 6:43 PM
QUICK LINKS
NYT: Teenagers Spent Less on Clothing
AP: U.S. Tax Receipts Dropping
NPR: Consumer Spending Shows Signs of Turnaround
Aug. 4, 2009 1:43 PM
Chickens in the Backyard
The clucking you hear from the house next door may not be your neighbor passing judgment on your landscaping. Instead, it might be the actual sounds of hens.
As Americans look for ways to squeeze a few more dollars out of their food budgets, some urban dwellers are turning to the old standby of rural America -- the chicken coop, according to a dispatch from The Times's William Neuman.
The reasons for keeping chickens are varied. Some like having the freshest possible eggs. Others, who raise chickens to eat them, like knowing exactly where their food comes from. A backyard coop may have cachet in some circles. In others it provides a sense of security for those who fear losing their jobs.
Sometimes the finances don't work out favorably. Declan Walsh of Brooklyn, who raises broiler chickens in his backyard, estimates that it costs him $8 per bird. He has seen restaurants advertising specials for whole cooked chickens at $1.99.
Undaunted, Mr. Walsh said his chickens taste much better.
Aug. 4, 2009 8:00 AM
The Bad News After the Bad News
If you've been laid off, in all likelihood you'll be living with less for much longer than the duration of the recession.
Economists say that once a worker has been laid off it can take years to return to the level of income he or she had before the layoff, The Times's Michael Luo reports.
Chuck Dettman of Florida has seen that firsthand. After he and some colleagues at Pratt & Whitney lost their jobs in the recession of 2001, they formed a support group as they searched for new jobs.
“I think there’s maybe only one or two that have been successful in making what they did then,” Mr. Dettman said of the group's members.
But some do manage to bounce back with the economy. One of Mr. Dettman's former colleagues, Karen Carron, makes about $11,000 more a year now than she did when she was laid off as a computer programmer.
Aug. 3, 2009 4:56 PM
Caught Betwixt and Between
For small business owners like Elizabeth and Brian Boele, money from the federal stimulus program can seem so close and yet so far away.
The Boeles opened the Bonte cafe and waffle shop in South Orange, N.J., two years ago, using their own money, as Serena Solomon reports on The Times's blog, The Local.
When the recession hit, they sought loans at commercial banks. Denied. Even with loan guarantees from the Small Business Administration, bolstered by stimulus money, there was still no help.
For now, the Boeles and others like them can only hope to ride out the tough times.
Aug. 3, 2009 2:29 PM
Taxi Fares That Riders See as Fair
Eric Hagen, a cabbie in Essex, Vt., needn't worry about passengers becoming angry over rising taxi fares. His Recession Ride Taxi simply asks riders to pay what they think is fair, The Burlington Free Press reports.
"Everybody's always hearing, 'This is what your mortgage is going to be; this is what your car payment’s going to be,'" Mr. Hagen told The Free Press. "People want to get away from that."
Although his business model may draw snickers on Wall Street, where Mr. Hagen worked in the 1990s, he said that so far no one has refused to pay and that he is making a profit.
Aug. 3, 2009 12:00 PM
When Life Begins in a Shelter
In South Florida, social service agencies are reporting more young children being born into a life of homelessness.
Mike Clary of The Los Angeles Times writes about Anastasia Garcia, a five-week-old baby at a Pompano Beach shelter. "When we are lucky enough to be settled, we will tell her that things were not always as easy as you may think," said her mother, Angela Garcia, 26, who lives in one room here with her husband and three children.
In Fort Lauderdale, Mr. Clary continues, Demali Staple's youngest child, 4-month-old Jabari, is another recession baby. "When Staple finishes work as a landscaper, she picks up Jabari and his brother, Alvash, 3, at a day-care center and they return to a room at Covenant House, a private Christian ministry that operates youth shelters in several U.S. cities,'' he writes.
Aug. 3, 2009 10:00 AM
Need a Break? Go to a Concert
One good thing has come out of this recession: concert tickets are cheaper and more readily available, at least in some cases. According to Reuters, last-minute tickets to hear big acts like Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen can be had for as little as $1, if you look in the right places.
Sean Pate, a spokesman for eBay Inc's StubHub, the leading Internet ticket re-seller, said many sites are having trouble selling tickets now, so they're discounting not just "nosebleed" seats or lawn seats, but rather in all seat locations for top performers. "It's almost like a stock market and a barometer for pricing city by city," he told Reuters.
Aug. 3, 2009 8:05 AM
QUICK LINKS
WaPo: More Teacher Applicants
AP: Wine School Enrollment Up
USA Today: Many Making Job Switch
Aug. 3, 2009 7:00 AM
Back to School Shopping for Less
The National Retail Federation is forecasting that families will spend 8 percent less on back-to-school, including everything from new shoes to dorm room gear, according to The Associated Press. So retailers, who are struggling through one of the worst sales slumps in years, are promoting a new fashion trend in back-to-school gear: Cheap.
Their focus will be on lower priced items like T-shirts and non-designer jeans. They will also offer 50-cent boxes of pens and giveaways to get people in the door, the A.P. reports.
Aug. 1, 2009 9:04 AM
Property Tax Delinquency
More Americans are falling behind on their property taxes, compounding the collapse of the housing market, writes Brad Heath for USA Today.
"Because property taxes are almost always collected locally, there is no single national measure of just how many people have fallen behind,'' Mr. Heath writes. "But tax collectors and treasurers in communities across the country say they've seen a sharp jump in the number of delinquent homeowners and businesses as the nation's unemployment rate grew.''
Homeowners' failure to pay taxes is causing huge shortfalls for local governments that rely on tax revenues to pay for everything from schools to police.
July 31, 2009 6:03 PM
Only 147 Shopping Days Left
Every year, they seem to start earlier and earlier, with the ad campaigns that make the procrastinating shopper's heart race: stores and their Christmas sales. This year, with sales down overall, some malls have launched Christmas in July sales, writes Ann Zimmerman in The Wall Street Journal.
Toys "R" Us Inc. decided to market its summertime Christmas discounts with an image of Santa lounging on the beach in sunglasses. Sears.com and Kmart.com used a vintage, snowy street scene accompanied by offers of free shipping.
Not everyone is pleased. Holly Linskie told The Journal about a Christmas display she saw recently in a Dallas-area Sears store. "It's ridiculous," she said. "Let's get past Halloween first."
July 31, 2009 5:02 PM
Sign of the Times:
The $5 Pizza Slice
Now comes the tale of the $5 pizza slice in Brooklyn, the highest price anyone in these parts has seen for a sliver of plain cheese. So it's either a sign of the deepening recession, or great marketing, but it's definitely something that many people are willing to try, writes The Times's Manny Fernandez, who describes long lines at Di Fara Pizza in the Midwood neighborhood. The price of a slice went up on July 1, from $4, but the customers still keep coming.
“Worth it,” said Frank Mancino, 64, between bites. “It’s like they dug up my grandma and she made the pie.”
July 31, 2009 5:00 PM
Recession Straining Marriages,
Forcing Change
Nearly three in 10 Americans say the recession has stressed, strained or even ruined their marriage or relationship, compared to 12 percent in Germany, 24 percent in France and 23 percent in Canada, according to a survey by ING Direct.
And 40 percent of Americans say they will have to retire at a later age. The survey, reported in The Business Journal, examined the changes people are making, or feel that they are being forced to make, because of the recession. The survey interviewed adults in the United States as well as in nine other countries.
July 31, 2009 4:00 PM
Lessons Learned
Jill Schlesinger of CBS MoneyWatch.com believes that "the longest post-World War II recession has knocked some sense into us." She writes that, based on consumer confidence polls and hard data, Americans seem to be shifting many of what she calls their "former bad habits."
"Let's hope that these are long-term trends, rather than reactionary blips," she writes. She lists five lessons she believes many Americans have learned during these down economic times, including these: That no job is forever, so don't take yours for granted, and that it's more imortant than ever to live within your means.
July 31, 2009 2:30 PM
Living, as Least for Now,
Under a Bridge
Tent cities have sprung up all over the country, as more people become homeless and set up camps wherever they can find a spot and a community. The Times's Dan Barry profiles one such camp, in Providence, Rhode Island, where residents live by a written code of conduct that says everyone will share in the labor.
"The compact may be as impermanent as this sudden community by the river, but for now it is binding," Mr. Barry writes.
July 31, 2009 2:00 PM
QUICK LINKS
VOA: India's Economy Recovering
Reuters: Guatemala's Economy Worsening
AP: Cuba Coping With Recession
July 31, 2009 11:15 AM
A Fashionista Auteur, Revealed
The recession sweeping though the fashion industry has motivated the anonymous author of a stinging blog about the industry to reveal his identity: Eric Gaskins, the designer who just closed down his business, has acknowledged that he is the author of The Emperor’s Old Clothes, which describes itself as "A cold-blooded, no holds barred, unapologetic take on the underbelly of fashion." Mr. Gaskins wrote about the industry as Fluff Chance, according to The Times's Eric Wilson.
"In recent months, as Fluff Chance began to write about the emotional impact of ending his collection, the blog became a bird’s-eye view of the psychological impact of the recession on a small designer’s business,'' writes Mr. Wilson. "Curiosity about who was behind the blog increased in proportion to its tone of utter nihilism.''
July 31, 2009 10:11 AM
Less Than Fresh at Half Off
Sara Clemence on Recessionwire.com has a few tips for saving money by purchasing food just past its prime. She's not encouraging you to eat spoiled food, but instead showing you how to get a bargain by buying, for example, pastries late in the day, when a pastry shop might mark them as half-off to clear the decks for the next day.
"Somewhere in between just picked and mildly poisonous you can find some amazing food bargains," she writes.
July 31, 2009 10:10 AM
Stimulus Funds to Help Feed
the Hungry
As the unemployment rate has inched up, so has the demand for food at the nation's food pantries, at the same time that donations are down. But recently, the pantries received a big helping hand, in the form of $100 million from federal stimulus funds, writes Michael Cooper in The Times.
Clyde W. Fitzgerald Jr., the executive director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, said the extra funds are much needed in his region, where job losses in the textile, tobacco and furniture industries are taking a toll.
“The increased demand is so strong, and so sustained,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “This hasn’t been like a little blip. We’ve been at this for 12 months. Those who need food assistance are always going to be the first to be hit in a downturn, and the last to benefit in a recovery.”
July 30, 2009 7:03 AM
For Veterans, a Respite
from Homelessness
For at least three days recently, hundreds of homeless veterans in San Diego had a place to get free haircuts, massages, dental care, legal aid, referrals to drug programs and other services. This year, Stand Down, an annual three-day tent city that provides respite and aid to former members of the armed forces, attracted 950, up from 830 the year before, writes The Times's Eric Eckholm.
The weekend of services for homeless veterans has been replicated in several other cities, and many serve large numbers of Vietnam vets. But that could change as soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan, said Pete Dougherty, director of homeless programs at the Department of Veteran's Affairs. He said one million troops are now home from these regions and more are returning every week.
July 29, 2009 4:16 PM
Anxiety Flowing
From California Vineyards
The recession has been brutal on the California wine industry. From farm to production to sales, cash is not flowing, writes Eric Asimov in The Times's Pour blog: "Cash may be trickling, but anxiety is gushing forth."
"People are drinking out of their cellars, the big distributors are throwing their weight around, and you add these things up, and from the winery perspective, the cash flow is brutal," said Steve Matthiason, a vineyard consultant who also grows grapes and makes small quantities of wine.
July 29, 2009 4:14 PM
A One-Way Ticket
Out of Harm's Way
New York City has found a creative way to deal with its intractable homelessness problem, which has mushroomed during the recession. It is issuing one-way tickets to such far-flung places as Johannesburg, San Juan and even Paris, writes The Times's Julie Bosman, to people seeking space at a shelter, so they can go join out of town relatives.
Since 2007, the Bloomberg administration has paid for more than 550 families to leave the city, as a way of keeping them out of the expensive shelter system, she writes, which costs $36,000 a year per family. All it takes is for a relative elsewhere to agree to take the family in.
July 29, 2009 12:22 PM
QUICK LINKS
NPR: Schools Raising Lab Animals
Wash. Post: Children Hurt by Recession
USA Today: Counting Stimulus Jobs
July 29, 2009 12:18 PM
Going Back to Work - at Your Old Job
Nearly a fifth of employees who are laid off return to the company that let them go, according to a survey featured in CNNmoney.com.
"In some instances, organizations are realizing that they may have cut too deep and are bringing people back in consulting roles or for project work," said Melvin Scales, senior vice president for global solutions at Right Management, an employment company that conducted the survey.
"Former employees have the organizational knowledge and skills to jump back into roles quickly to get the job done."
Some 3.4 million people have lost their jobs in the first half of 2009.
July 28, 2009 5:02 PM
QUICK LINKS
NYT: Homeless Families Could Face Eviction
Newsweek: What Mancession?
Havana Times: Hard Times in Cuba
July 28, 2009 2:00 PM
The Jobless Lend a Helping Hand
Emergency management officials in Florida have found a silver lining in the state's high unemployment rate, writes The Times's Yolanne Almanzar: there are more highly skilled volunteers available to help during hurricane season.
Take Robert Tabler, 52. A highly credentialed disaster management specialist who has been out of work for months, Mr. Tabler is volunteering at an emergency operations center in Tampa.
“Volunteering keeps me out in the community where I feel like I’m making a difference,” he said.
Budget cuts could still hinder relief efforts across the state, but emergency organizers say the new influx of volunteers will be especially helpful if disaster strikes.
July 28, 2009 12:45 PM
In Japan, a Once-Scorned Job Becomes Glamorous
Not long ago, hostessing, a job in Japan that requires young women to pour drinks for rich male customers and lavish attention on them, was derided as immodest.
But with the country experiencing its worst economic downturn since World War II, social mores are changing, writes The Times's Hiroko Tabuchi. The high-paying hostessing jobs are being considered by more women and may even be gaining respectability.
“More women from a diversity of backgrounds are looking for hostess work,” said Kentaro Miura, who helps manage seven clubs in Tokyo. “There is less resistance to becoming a hostess. In fact, it’s seen as a glamorous job.”
July 28, 2009 8:04 AM
A New Deal for Tennessee Workers
Perry County in central Tennessee was hit hard last year after an auto parts supplier relocated to Mexico.
But after months with no work, 300 people have found jobs, writes The Times's Michael Cooper, thanks to a unique way of using federal stimulus money. Taking a page out of the New Deal, state officials have taken federal funds to subsidize jobs with employers like the state Transportation Department and the milkshake place near the high school. Other jobs have workers clearing undergrowth and taking applications for unemployment benefits.
Scott and Allison Kimble, who both lost their jobs when the Fisher & Company auto parts plant closed last year, got jobs through the new program.
"We still need some kind of industry to look and come into Perry County," said Mr. Kimble, who works with the Transportation Department.
"But for right now we’ve got hope, and when you’ve got hope, you’ve got a way.”
July 28, 2009 7:00 AM
QUICK LINKS
Boston Globe: Rooms for Rent
Orlando Sentinel: Downturn Hits Athletics
WSJ: Finance Jobs in the Midwest
July 27, 2009 6:10 PM
Finding Help for the First Time
With more and more people losing theirs jobs, some formerly middle class families find themselves in need of help for the first time ever. In New York City, writes The Times's Julie Bosman, some people call 311, the catch-all line for city services. Others contact well-known nonprofit agencies like the United Way.
"People are confused about where to go and how to get help," said Toni Dolan, the executive director of the Beth-El Center, a soup kitchen and small temporary shelter in Milford, Conn.
Have you or someone you know considered seeking help from a relief agency? If you already have, how did you navigate the system? Post your responses here.
July 27, 2009 4:14 PM
Recession Poetry
Some morbid verse courtesy of Unemployment Haiku Weekly:
Michael's gold coffin
Worth twenty five thousand bucks
I'm digging it up.
July 27, 2009 4:11 PM
Olympic Hopes in Chicago
Chicago is considered a favorite among the four cities being considered to host the 2016 Olympics. But the city's budget crisis has dominated talk in Chicago lately about whether the city should be playing host to the summer games.
Polls suggest broad support for bringing the games to Chicago, which supporters say will bring jobs, tourism and construction. But with the city facing a $250 revenue shortfall that recently forced it to lay off 400 employees, Chicago taxpayers worry that they could be left paying the bills.
"How do we know?” asked Douglas Brown, a resident, during a recent neighborhood meeting on the South Side. “When do we get our guarantees to make us sleep at night?”
July 24, 2009 10:15 AM
The Long Wait for the
Unemployment Check
Hundreds of thousands of people have waited months for unemployment checks, as the recession has doubled the number of jobless Americans seeking aid and strained state unemployment funds. The Times's Jason DeParle writes that 16 states are now paying benefits with borrowed cash, and their number could double by the year’s end. Call centers and Web sites have been overwhelmed, leaving frustrated workers sometimes fighting for days to file an application.
Luis Coronel, a janitor at a San Francisco hotel, got $6,000 in back benefits after winning an appeal. But in the six months he spent waiting, there were times when he and his pregnant wife could not afford to eat. “I was terrified my wife and daughter would have to live on the street,” Mr. Coronel said.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said: “Obviously, some of our states were in a pickle. The system wasn’t prepared to deal with the enormity of the calls coming in.”
July 23, 2009 2:32 PM
British Pubs Shutting Down
The recession has not been kind to brew pubs in England, The Associated Press reports. An average of 52 pubs have closed every week in the first half of the year, an industry group said Wednesday.
Pub closures have put 24,000 people out of work in the past year, the British Beer & Pub Association told The A.P. That compares to an average of 39 per week in the second half of last year. Ever-increasing taxes on beer are contributing to the pain, the association said. "The recession is proving extremely tough for Britain's pubs," said David Long, the BBPA chief executive.
July 23, 2009 2:31 PM
The Fine Art of Selling in a Downturn
How do you sell a $35,000 watch during a recession? Very artfully, says Jean-Marie Brücker, a former Xerox salesman who is training the sales force at IWC Schaffhausen how to close a deal in a recession. After years of double-digit sales growth, The Wall Street Journal reports, sales of Swiss watches have fallen off drastically, and watchmakers like IWC -- the 140-year-old company whose watches are considered collectors’ items and can cost from $3,000 to $300,000 -- are having to re-learn the old-fashioned art of salesmanship.
July 22, 2009 5:46 PM
Dating in the Time of a Recession
The economic doldrums have driven more singles to look for dates, The Associated Press reports. On the matchmaking Web site eHarmony.com, membership is up 20 percent in spite of monthly fees of up to $60, and activity has increased by 50 percent since September at OkCupid.com.
Attendance at the monthly gatherings of Nerds at Heart in Chicago, where young professionals pay $25 for a drink and a chance to spend the evening clustered around trivia and board games, was twice what organizers had expected for April, The A.P. reports, and has stayed high since.
"They're looking for something that's genuine in a world that isn't very secure," said Bathsheba Birman, co-founder of Nerds at Heart. "People are re-examining their own values."
July 22, 2009 5:43 PM
QUICK LINKS
AP: Rodeos Riding the Recession
Mercury News: Illegal Immigration Down
WashPost: Major Crimes on Decrease
July 22, 2009 10:20 AM
Messages of Hope in the Recession
A new advertising campaign, sponsored partially by an anonymous donor, is hoping to inspire hope and optimism during the economic downturn, CNN reports.
Started in May, the campaign, which is called "Recession 101," has put up about 2,000 billboards or electronic signs on roadsides in more than 30 states, among them Michigan and Rhode Island, which have been hit particularly hard by the recession.
An example of its inspirational messages: "Bill Gates started Microsoft in a recession."
July 22, 2009 10:08 AM
Living on Less In TriBeCa
When real estate prices were skyrocketing, some residents of TriBeCa, many of them financiers with families, spent their fortunes on European summer vacations, children’s birthday parties at Chelsea Piers and nannies and housekeepers.
But now, there are subtle signs of cutbacks all over the neighborhood, writes The Times's Christine Haughney.
"People who were going to Europe are now renting a house at the Jersey Shore," said Peter Braus, chairman of the TriBeCa Committee for Community Board 1. "All the parents in the neighborhood, it’s on their minds to economize. They try to enroll their kids in Little League, which is less expensive from what parents used to do, like horseback riding."
July 21, 2009 3:10 PM
QUICK LINKS
Chicago Trib: No Recession-Proof Jobs
American-Statesman: Austin Keeps Growing
Recessionwire: Unexpected Impresarios
July 21, 2009 3:09 PM
Government Jobs Beckon
the Unemployed
More than 6,000 people jammed into the National Building Museum in Washington last week to apply for openings at 75 agencies, including the departments of Treasury, Homeland Security, Justice, Veterans Affairs and Energy, writes The Washington Post.
With the economy in recession and unemployment high, many workers are turning to the federal government for job stability, according to The Post.
But many of those applying may not have what it takes for the government jobs, say some experts. "Most of the unemployed are retail and construction workers and don't have the skills," said Stephen S. Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.
July 21, 2009 10:21 AM
New York's Shuttered Storefronts
In a more prosperous time, not so long ago, thousands of stores and restaurants opened in Manhattan to meet what seemed like an insatiable appetite in spending. Sometimes store owners didn't even try to bargain on rent.
But now, store owners of big chains to small shops are going out of business at the highest rate since the early 1990s, writes The Times's Christine Haughney, leaving even some of New York's most desirable shopping districts littered with empty storefronts.
“I’ve never seen such an across-the-board problem,” said Lorraine Nadel, a lawyer who has represented tenants and landlords for 18 years. “Store owners can’t pay their rent, and they can’t keep their businesses going.”
July 21, 2009 8:00 AM
Resting in Peace, at Home
Nathaniel Roe’s children, like a growing number of people nationwide, decided to care for their father in death as they had in the last months of his life. After Mr. Roe died at age 92, his children washed his body, dressed him in his favorite Harrods tweed jacket and red Brooks Brothers tie and laid him on a bed so family members could privately say their last goodbyes. The next day, they buried Mr. Roe on his farm, in a coffin built by his son, writes Katie Zezima in The Times.
The number of home funerals has soared in the last five years, as more people are looking to save money. “Home funerals aren’t for everybody, but if there’s not enough money to pay the mortgage, there certainly isn’t enough money to pay for a funeral,” said Joshua Slocum, director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit watchdog group. |
