Ruining Your Child's Credit: Growing Trend, Bad Idea

Have you ever seen a friend take out a light bill in their 6-month-old baby's name? What about your other friend, who goes to get their first credit card and finds out that they have a low credit score, a bad payment history and $10,000 in debt? Well, while we might be tempted to think that this only happens to "Shanequa," the truth is that jacking up your child's credit is apparently a growing trend all across America.

It is possible to use your child's name to get loan or a new credit card. Or to have utilities turned on mainly because your age is not included as part of a credit check. So, that newborn baby of yours could end up owning a brand new car if you are unethical enough to use your child's name and social security number on the loan application.

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10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Breakdown of the Black Family
The low marriage rate in the black community has a detrimental effect on today's youth. Nearly 65% percent of black kids are born to single parent homes. Lacking either a mother or a father leaves a gap in a child's psyche that is usually replaced by a more negative factor. While one parent is better than none, a single working mother or father usually doesn't have enough time to parent their children as effectively as they should, which could cause trouble in the household.

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10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Black Health Issues
While African American are only 13% of the U.S. population, blacks account for more HIV and AIDS cases and HIV-related deaths than any other racial/ethnic group. The rate of obesity is also a huge factor in the community, with over one-third of blacks being obese. The result is a higher risk of pancreatic cancer among blacks than among whites, particularly for women. It also leads to a high prevalence of obesity-related conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes, factors reported to contribute to a high death rate from coronary heart disease.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Light-Skinned vs. Dark-Skinned
The color complex is an issue in the black community that has existed for centuries. It has divided families, communities and marital relationships, etc. It is a system of discrimination by black people against other African Americans based on skin tone, pitting light versus dark--even though the reality is that no matter what the shade, we are still black.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Use of the N-word
Much has been said and published over the use of the word "nigger." Political figures and celebrities have argued over its power and prevalence in the black community. No matter how you spin it, this word, whether you love it or hate it, will most likely be a part of the black vernacular for years to come.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Crack Epidemic
Starting in the early 1980s, a cheap, portable and highly addictive form of cocaine hit America's streets. Crack ravaged many inner cities populated by African Americans with a flood of addiction, a proliferation of border babies (abandoned children in hospitals born addicted to crack), astronomical murder rates, and a general blight that had never been seen before. Even in 2008, the effects crack has had on black families still remain.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Hurricane Katrina
Race in America came into focus in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit the nation's Gulf coast. The fact that many news outlets referred to survivors as "refugees" in addition to the government's slow reaction time for largely black communities hardest hit left many wondering if black people "matter." Socio-economic class and segregation in the U.S. were put on television for the world to see. Although Katrina was a natural disaster, some say it exemplified this country's disregard for the condition of poor people and black folks.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Black Leaders
Who are they? Who appoints them? Do people still respect what Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have to say? Does the NAACP have any power today? The future and current state of black leadership has been highly debated in recent weeks, but with the emergence of the Barack Obama presidential campaign, there is hope for a brighter day with black leadership.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Institutional racism
The decrease in race-based scholarships, rollbacks in affirmative action plans, and the persistent inequality in salaries between whites and blacks continue to show how the glass ceiling remains above the head of African Americans.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Hip-Hop's Portrayal of Women
Rap music has been criticized for its negative portrayal of women, glorification of "thug life," and violence since its inception. However, these days, the future of the genre is less clear as fewer artists top the charts and remain there. Also, opinions differ on who is to blame for women being used as stage props and negatively portrayed in music videos and lyrics. Regardless, the negative effects of hip-hop continue to linger.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Police Brutality
The brutality cases of Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell and Rodney King have only increased an already cold relationship between the African-American community and police throughout the country. Police brutality has always been prevalent in the black community, but these cases shed light on the often violent encounters between African-Americans and cops.

10 Ways Black People Have A Long Way To Go

Another reason that it's easy for parents to be tempted to use their children to get things they can't afford is because you can do pretty much anything to someone if you have his or her social security number. Yes, folks, this is called "identity theft," and it's illegal. But the other hurdle in prosecuting such cases is that the child doesn't usually find out they've been hurt until they are well into adulthood. And who's going to turn on their mama and report her to the police?

Not only do some parents have a habit of using the identity of their underage children, some even turn to their children for help during adulthood. According to LeaseTrader.com, there has been a 30 percent increase in the number of cases of 21-to-28-year-olds co-signing to help their parents buy the things they want or need. "You used to rely on your parents to help you out or co-sign something," said John Sternal, vice president of marketing and communications at LeaseTrader.com. "Today it's a little bit of the opposite, since kids often have credit situations that haven't been tarnished as much as their parents.'"

I argue that much of this trend could be due to the fact that many baby boomers have not been saving and are not even prepared for retirement. In fact, the "late boomer generation," those born between 1955 and 1964, have a savings rate of only 10 percent (including household wealth), which is far lower than the maximum savings rate of the pre-boomer generation of 30 percent. In other words, our country is addicted to consumption, so a mother stealing her child's name to get an extra credit card can be compared with a parent who has a drug addiction and uses their child to get another fix.

A college senior in the D.C. area told CNNMoney.com about how her father took out education loans in her name. She didn't find out about the loans until she tried to get credit card as an adult. Since that time, her credit has been ruined. "My credit is really bad now," she told CNN Money. "I've had to have a co-signer for every apartment I've ever had, I can't get a credit card and getting any other loans or even a car is going to be very hard."

In some cases, it can be argued that the need to survive may drive a parent to do something they might not otherwise do. Using your child's name to get access to utilities or much-needed cash might be your only path to survival. At the very least, if you do use your child's name (which I certainly don't condone), have the ethical responsibility to ensure that you pay the bill on time. In fact, using a child's name to create a solid payment history might actually help him or her in the long run. Again though, I am not condoning identity theft.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

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