By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist
Not everyone is pleased with recent marketing strategies aimed at cashing in on the deeper pockets of the childless by banning children from airlines, restaurants, and even grocery stores.
A new article by Adweek's Robert Klara entitled, "The Kids Aren't Alright: A New Marketing Movement Aims to Protect the Childless From Germy Broods" has some parents up-in-arms while others think it's a great idea.
Klara highlights the so-called "brat bans" that have been occurring around the world, such as a move by Malaysia Airlines to institute a "baby ban" in first class on its super-jumbo flights. The airline claimed it had too many complaints from passengers who were unable to sleep because of crying babies.
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Just this month, McDains Restaurant in Monroeville, Pa., ceased admitting children under six years of age and a Whole Foods Market in St. Louis began touting "child-free shopping" every Friday.
What's behind the move? Some say it's all about money.
"Empty nesters continue to wield a huge swath of discretionary spending dollars, and population dips in first-world countries mean more childless couples than ever," Klara writes. "Twenty percent of American women (one in five) now choose never to bear children, up from one in 10 in the ’70s, and the number of married-but-childless couples in the U.S. has reached a high of 27 million."
He speculates that this could be due to recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which found the cost of raising a child these days to average $230,000 without college.
“More and more resorts in particular continue to move [in this direction],” says a spokesperson for LeaveThemBehind.com, a website that lists vacation spots that welcome parents but not their children. Given the hectic pace of the new-media economy, he says, “people are looking to guarantee more peaceful vacations these days and one way owners are attracting them is though a no-children policy.”
But many of the people who commented on Klara's story think ideology also has a lot to do with it.
As one woman named "Maddie" commented: "These people are way off base; it is people like them who are making it hard to raise my two children. They are well behaved, and heck I have seen adults throw hissy-fits bigger than theirs. Stop promoting this non-family friendly mentality or the core family in America will be lost..."
Ushantha Govender writes: "As a parent who has left a restaurant and movie theatre when my children were not behaving, I resent them being called "brats" . . . . My biggest problem with this 'ban' is that you are punishing the children who are well behaved as well. My kids are very well traveled and we have been on several flights including to South Africa and back with no problems; your ban lumps all kids into the same category - whose next seniors because they don't move fast enough for your liking?"
Joe LeBlanc had a better idea: "Will someone start airlines, restaurants, and movie theaters banning adults who behave like children? I might pay extra for that."
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