When discussing that economics is everywhere, one thought that came to my mind is adoption, and specifically fostering to adopt. Fostering to adopt aids children while also saving the public money. Everyone agrees that adopting helps children, but an article I read goes a step further and identifies monetary benefit for society. "At a time when our nation is experiencing a multitude of economic hardships, Federal, State and local agencies could potentially lower expenditures while maintaining essential child welfare services if more children and youth from the foster care system were adopted" (the economic benefits, n.d.). The public pays about $9 billion a year for foster care. 15% of all children in foster care will be adopted. Thus, if more children were adopted, the public would pay less each year to take care of these kids.
References
The Economic Benefits of Foster Care Adoption. Children's Bureau Express. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2021, from https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=130§ionid=2&articleid=3304
Natalee, great post this week! I definitely enjoyed your unique perspective on fostering to adopt, I believe this would be a great solution to cut down on expenses and also provide children with a good home, this requires multiple foster families to be consistent in their fostering and willing to adopt children for good. To save money in the future I believe the foster system would benefit greatly from more mandated training to focus on care of the child.