1. Before listening to the article look at the headline of the article and guess whether these sentences are true (t) or false (f): Cost of Kids

1. A secret market in buying and selling kids has started in the UK.

2. The early childhood years are the most expensive for parents.

3. A report said income levels will rise for parents to raise their kids.

4. The report said parents must be more aware about childcare costs.

5. Spending on education is higher than the cost of feeding kids.

6. Children received less pocket money than usual in 2007.

7. An insurance spokesman suggested sacrificing a few children.

8. The spokesman said putting money aside now was a good idea.

2. Match the following synonyms from the article “Cost of Kids” you are going to listen to:

soaring	alert
fork out	preparations
would-be	makes up
staggering	potential
switched on	pity
accounts for	spend
amused	related to
associated with	rising
sympathy	amazing
provisions	entertained

3. Match the phrases from the article “Cost of Kids” you are going to listen to. Sometimes more than one choice is possible. Listen and check if you were right:

soaring and set to almost	their family finances
Parents can expect to fork	early years
would-be and	amused with toys
it’s unrealistic to expect people’s income	out around $365,000
parents will need to be switched on about	rocketing expenses
education accounts for over	levels to increase
a mind-blowing $50,000 to keep them	double again
he has sympathy for parents over the	it is all worth it
sacrifices have to be made in the	current parents
every parent will tell you that	half of the expenditure

4. Listen to the article and fill in the spaces:

The cost of raising a child in the UK _____________________ almost double again in the next decade. Parents can _____________________ $365,000 on raising a child from birth to the age of 21. This is according to a report by the UK insurance company LV=. The insurer _____________________ $50 a day, with university being the most expensive years, followed by the early _____________________ and five. LV= spokesman Nigel Snell said the statistics are quite sobering for _________________________ parents. “The figures are quite staggering and it’s unrealistic to expect people’s income levels _____________________ this rising level of expenditure. This means parents will need to be switched on about their family finances more than ever,” he said.

Spending on childcare and education _____________________ of the expenditure at $200,000. On top of that, it costs $32,000 to feed a child, $24,000 _____________________, and a mind-blowing $50,000 to keep them amused with toys, holidays, hobbies and presents. Pocket money, however, decreased _____________________ 2007. Mr Snell said he has sympathy for parents over the rocketing expenses they face: “As a parent of three, I know from experience _____________________ made in the early years, and many parents will have had to put some plans on hold to manage _____________________ raising a family. Of course, every parent will tell you that _____________________, but making even small provisions and doing a little extra planning now could help new parents ________________________ through the next 21 years.”

5. Listen to the recording once again and reproduce how the words below were used in the article:

1. soaring

2. fork

3. reckons

4. statistics

5. unrealistic

6. switched

7. accounts

8. amused

9. sympathy

10. sacrifices

11. worth

12. easily

6. Write five GOOD questions about comedy in the table. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers:

	STUDENT 1 ANSWERS	STUDENT 2 ANSWERS
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

7. Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

Discussion

1. Discuss in pairs:

1. What did you think when you were listening to the article?

2. Do you think children really cost 50 dollars a day?

3. Do you think couples have a better life with or without children?

4. Are children expensive to raise in your country?

5. How do you think parents could reduce the costs of raising children?

6. Does your government give any help to parents?

7. Do you think only rich people should have lots of children?

8. Why do you think childcare costs in the UK will double in the next decade?

9. How much pocket money do you think children should get?

10. Do you think this report is a scare tactic by the insurance company LV=to get people to take out insurance?

11. Do you think parents spend too much on presents for their children?

12. What is so expensive about the ages two to five?

13. What sacrifices (financial and social) do parents have to make when they have children?

14. Were you an expensive child?

15. Why do you think parents would say having children is worth it?

16. Do you think more couples will think about not having children if they read the LV=report?

Writing

1. Write a letter to your government leaders. Give them three suggestions on what they should do to help poorer parents. Give them three reasons why they should help parents with childcare. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

   Unit 11. AGE