Want a credit card? If you’re a stay-at-home mom, you will have to ask Hubby for his permission. And that pisses Holly McCall off.
Yesterday, stay-at-home mom Holly McCall, along with representatives from MomsRising, met with Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Richard Cordray to address stay-at-home parents’ concerns about their access to credit.
McCall had delivered more than 45,000 petition signatures she had collected on Change.org and MomsRising.org, asking the bureau to reconsider this “Mad Men” era policy that prevents at-home parents from claiming household income in order to apply for a credit card.
Though McCall has managed her family’s money for years, the 34-year-old mom of two from Vienna, Virginia was denied a Target credit card last fall. She blames the 2009 Credit CARD Act.
Reports CNN Money,:
The law was passed in 2009 to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices. But some stay-at-home parents argue that a Card Act rule that took effect last October has made it harder for them to get approved for credit cards.
Aiming to protect consumers from racking up too much debt, the Federal Reserve now requires credit card issuers to consider individual income from applicants instead of household income.
It sounds like something Betty Draper would go through. In fact, back in 1961, my mother was working and making as much money as her husband when she was denied a credit card in her own name. Her income was effectively ignored, and her husband’s name was placed on the card. (I’m looking at you, Bloomingdales.) Now 50 years later, it apepars we’ve gone backwards.
McCall finds the whole thing demeaning. At her petition site, she wrote: “It is 2012, and because I’m a stay at home mom, I can’t get my own credit card.”
Of course, this affects stay-at-home dads, too, so please spread the word among yourselves. Says the petition, “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has the ability to change the CARD Act without going through a long, painful Congressional process.”
Like McCall, I’m pissed off, too, so I signed the petition at Change.org. You can add your name here: Change.org. You don’t even have to ask Hubby for permission.
Why is money the only way we value a person in this society? Raising children into responsible adults is a job, too.
When I got married 20 years ago, I kept two credit cards and a checking account in my name only. Ten years ago I left work to raise the kids and I kept my separate cards and bank account. I still needed that little piece of independence. If a bank or store wants to turn me down because I don’t bring home the paycheck, it’s their loss. My credit rating is better than my husband’s for heavens sake!In my house, I handle the majority of the day-to-day financial decisions, and my husband and I have a 50/50 say in major purchases. My husband realizes my position in the family is just as important as his, and I’m guessing that most households with a stay-at-home parent operate in pretty much the same way. If banks and stores actually thought about it they’d realize that the stay-at-home parent is most likely the one who handles the finances and makes the majority of everyday purchases. They should be trying to woo us! Seems pretty simple to me.
When I got married 20 years ago, I kept two credit cards and a checking account in my name only. Ten years ago I left work to raise the kids and I kept my separate cards and bank account. I still needed that little piece of independence. If a bank or store wants to turn me down because I don’t bring home the paycheck, it’s their loss. My credit rating is better than my husband’s for heavens sake!In my house, I handle the majority of the day-to-day financial decisions, and my husband and I have a 50/50 say in major purchases. My husband realizes my position in the family is just as important than his, and I’m guessing that most households with a stay-at-home parent operate in pretty much the same way. If banks and stores actually stopped and thought about it they’d realize that the stay-at-home parent is most likely the one who handles the finances and makes the majority of everyday purchases. They should be trying to woo us! Seems pretty simple to me.