School's out, and parents' financial stress is in
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Welcome back! Summer vacation have you dreaming about giving it all up and moving abroad? Luckily, six European towns are offering cash to help you move there.
Speaking of money and vacations: In today's big story, summer vacation means financial stress for parents looking to keep their kids busy while school is out without breaking the bank.
What's on deck:
Markets: The June jobs report is good news for a potential rate cut.
Tech: The founder of Gen Z's new favorite app details how she plans to avoid being just a fad.
Business: The three worst letters in real estate: HOA.
But first, hello campers!
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The big story
The cost of summer
School's out for summer, but the relief for kids is causing financial pain for their parents.
Summer can be a money pit for parents scrambling to keep their kids entertained in July and August, write Business Insider's Juliana Kaplan and Madison Hoff.
Summer childcare isn't cheap. Nearly a quarter of recently surveyed parents with kids in a summer program said they expect to pay more than $1,000 a month per child this summer. And those costs can balloon well beyond that, with one family spending $6,000 for a three-week sleepaway camp.
Further complicating things is most camps don't cover the two-plus months parents need to fill for their kids. The result is sometimes a patchwork system of camps and part-time nannies that parents need to cobble together.
Sometimes costs crop up before camp even starts. Parents spend hundreds, or even thousands, on packing and prepping their kids before shipping them off.
Just about everyone feels the squeeze on their wallets when the temperature rises.
An Intuit Credit Karma survey found 61% of parents with children under 18 said it "feels even more expensive to raise kids in the summer months."
It's a brutal reality check for parents who thought their days of high childcare costs were behind them when they became DIPS (dual income, public school).
Instead, some are even going into debt, despite sky-high credit card interest rates, to make it work.
Things don't always get easier once kids are at camp, though.
This year, skincare products proved to be a lightning rod for kids and parents at elite summer camps, writes BI's Anna Silman. Outright bans or restrictions on luxury skincare products — because nine-year-olds need their daily lip oil — created chaos among their tweens.
Of course, drama comes with the price of admission at these fancy establishments, which can run $16,000 for the summer.
In 2021, Anna reported on how parents were up in arms over the daily photos shown from camp. Parents inundated camp employees with concerned or critical emails and calls as they tried to parent their children from hundreds of miles away.
News brief
Your Monday headline catchup
A quick recap of the top news from over the weekend:
Boeing's big mea culpa just dropped and it doesn't look pretty.
Modi's Russia visit shows India isn't worried about making the US mad.
France's left-wing alliance blocks a far-right majority, projection shows.
Russia may resort to an old World War II tactic that had a key role in the D-Day landings to repel Ukrainian drone attacks.ded Slack and mom cofounded Flickr, found safe, police say.
3 things in markets
How to get in on the AI infrastructure trade everyone's talking about. You've read a lot about the role data centers and utilities play in powering AI. But where should you invest? Goldman Sachs identified 89 stocks across 10 sectors that are key to AI infrastructure.
The June jobs report included a couple surprises. The US labor market added more jobs last month than expected (206,000). But an unexpected uptick in unemployment to 4.1% is good news for investors hoping for an interest-rate cut.
An activist short-seller's Pyrrhic victory. Hindenburg Research wiped out $150 billion in market value from the Adani Group when it accused the Indian conglomerate of sweeping fraud. Meanwhile, Hindenburg's rewards were meager: The short-seller made just $4 million for its efforts. But its leader insists it's not about the money.
3 things in tech
Gen Z's new favorite social media is… MySpace 2.0? The app Noplace, which is going viral among young people, is a nod to the early days of social media before the "algos and ads" took over. Its founder has a plan to keep it from fizzling out.
How Andy Jassy secretly wooed Wall Street. After a rough start to his tenure as CEO, Jassy executed a stunning turnaround: He slashed costs, won over investors, and put a new stamp on Amazon's culture. More than a dozen employees, investors, and analysts explained how Jassy overhauled the tech giant for the better.
Amazon laps Netflix in the race for TV ad dollars. Ad buyers told BI that Amazon is leading streamers in the competition for advertisers, thanks to its large sports footprint and lower prices. It also has a larger ad-supported audience, since it switched on ads for all Prime Video users in January.
3 things in business
Down with homeowner associations. Millions of Americans live in neighborhoods with HOAs that operate as private quasi-governments. While a new Florida law has made strides to limit HOAs' power, it will take more than some modest adjustments. We may need to break the system entirely.
Stay greasy, McDonald's. Over the course of many years, McDonald's forays into healthy alternatives haven't panned out. That's probably because no one is going there to enjoy a salad. Customers know that. McDonald's does, too — and it shouldn't forget it.
Gen Z in Neverland. A growing share of young Americans are living with their parents way past college, and relying on the Bank of Mom and Dad for support. But it isn't all their fault. Lacking social safety nets, American parents are often left to provide cover.
In other news
Samsung really wants to outsmart Apple in the Galaxy-iPhone battle.
Elite nightclubs are forcing the Hamptons into an identity crisis.
I want to retire before 50, so I asked a financial planner for 3 ways to earn more on my savings.
Tech workers look like the real winners of the AI talent war.
What's happening today
Samsung workers began a three-day strike.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Jack Sommers, deputy editor, in London. Annie Smith, producer, in London. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.
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