The Economics of Birthdays
Lizzy Strange
Mrs. Straub
AP Economics Insight
2 May 2017
The Economics of Birthdays
When it comes to birthdays, different countries use different traditions to celebrate the lives of their people. For some countries, birthdays are all about ceremonies and celebratory events that are revolved around the cultural of their country. For other countries including America, there is less importance on tradition and ceremonies, but more importance on gifts and ‘Happy Birthday’ cards. Having the opportunity to write this blog post on my own birthday—May 2nd—has lead me to believe that I would enjoy celebrating with another country’s birthday tradition because it would be a lot cheaper than having a normal, American birthday party.
In other countries, there are more traditions associated with birthdays and these traditions are usually more cost-friendly than having an expensive party with presents and activities. In the Philippines, “...birthday cakes are baked in various sizes and shapes. The celebration also includes noodles representing a long life” (“Birthday Traditions from Around the World”). In this culture, the Filipino people celebrate with food and they enjoy one of their culture’s most necessary food items, noodles. This food is so common in the Philippines that it wouldn’t be hard to fix and shouldn’t be too much of an expense or hassle for the family of the birthday person. A company from the Philippines, Joey Prats, sells cake mixes at 175 Philippine pesos, which is $3.49 US dollars, (“Joey”), and grocery stores in the Philippines sell noodles anywhere from 90 Philippine pesos to 30 Philippine pesos which is $1.79 to $0.60 US dollars (“Pasta”). Just adding these prices alone makes the cost of Philippine birthday traditions anywhere from $4.09 to $5.28 in US dollars. There is wiggle room for other expenses in this total, but still, the cost of a Philippine birthday is fairly reasonable and affordable.
Egyptian families also enjoy a simple celebration that is attainable yet celebratory. In Egypt, “Lots of flowers and fruit are used to decorate the party as symbols of life and growth” (“Birthday Traditions from Around the World”). The flowers and fruit set off a happy and bright vibe for the occasion, bringing color and freshness to the Egyptian family table. The symbolism of life and growth also create a happy and celebratory mood for the celebration, and bring in Egyptian culture to the birthday party. An Egyptian florist sells flowers from 53.20 Egyptian Pounds to 79.60 EGP which is $2.94 to $4.39 USD (“Egypt”), and a gourmet produce center in Egypt sells 1kg of apples for 36.00 EGP—Egyptian Pounds—and a 1.2kg pineapple for 60.00 EGP which would be $1.99 USD and $3.31 USD (“Fresh”). This adds to a total of $8.24 and $9.69 in US dollars, which is again very affordable while there is still room for other expenses.
In Europe, German families celebrate with cake which is more like a traditional American birthday, and they also have another interesting tradition for younger, single men. In Germany, “....a member of the birthday person’s family wakes up at sunrise and lights the birthday cake to be lit all day long” (“Birthday Traditions from Around the World”). The lasting candles carry on the celebration of an entire day dedicated to someone’s birth, and as Americans, we can relate to the tradition of having a cake to symbolize our birthday celebration. A store in Germany entitled Real sells a pack of birthday candles at 1.93 euros which is $2.11 USD (“13tlg.”) and a company in Germany called Kaufland sells a box of mix for a Feine Speisestärke cake for 0.55 euros which is $0.60 USD. (“K-Classic”). This German tradition costs $2.71 in USD, which is again a very cost friendly tradition to uphold. An odd tradition that Germans also have for their birthdays is that when a man is still single at age 30 in Germany, he will sweep the steps at the city hall while his friends throw garbage at him—this indicates to the rest of the community that the man does not have a girlfriend (“Birthday Traditions from Around the World”). You can see this tradition demonstrated in the image below.
Lastly, after learning about traditions and expenses in other countries, we get to the familiar American birthday traditions that we have all grown up participating in. In America, people buy gifts for each other when it is their birthday. An American family will also normally have a birthday cake or birthday treat including ice cream, brownies, etc., and they will light the treat with as many candles as there are years that the birthday person is celebrating. Americans tend to lean more towards material things when it comes to events and birthday parties, and stray from cultural celebrations unlike the rest of the world. Proof that the American birthday tradition is to spend more on gifts and birthday activities was discovered on CBS local news when “A new study found the average parents today spend $450 on each birthday party for each one of their kids, every single year. And that’s BEFORE they spend $250 on presents.” (“The Cost Of A Child’s Birthday Party”).
Compared with the prices of traditions around the world, Americans spend a lot more on birthdays than anyone else. Of course there are other factors other than cake mix prices and fruit prices to be taken into consideration when determining which country spends the most on birthday festivities. One of these factors would be if families in Germany had lower income in comparison to American families; if that were the case, American families would be able to afford more than German families. Another factor would be if Egypt’s economy had higher price levels, increasing their real gross domestic product, prices, and demand for money, which would eventually drive up the real interest rate and increase every German consumers’ want to save. If consumers are saving more, they’re spending less. And if they’re spending less, they will want the most affordable birthday party and birthday tradition. From an economist's standpoint, choosing a cheaper, more affordable way to celebrate your birthday would be the best option, and if that option were from another culture, there would also be a positive externality of having a new experience and fun opportunity to embrace other cultures and countries. Overall, birthdays would be more fun and affordable in the United States if once in awhile we decided to try a different culture’s birthday tradition and see if our families and our wallets liked that option better.
Works Cited
“Birthday Traditions from Around the World.” Coolest Kid Birthday Parties, Briff Me, Inc., http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com/birthday-traditions/.
“Fresh Fruit.” Gourmet Egypt, Gourmet Egypt Food Stores, 2016, http://www.gourmetegypt.com/fresh-fruits-vegetables/fresh-fruits-vegetables/fresh-fruit.
“Joey Prats Ultra Mixes: Home.” Joey Prats Ultra Mixes, Joey Prats Ultra Mixes, 2014, http://www.joeypratsultramixes.com/.
“K-Classic Feine Speisestärke 400g.” Kaufland, Kaufland Stiftung & Co. KG [DE], https://www.kaufland.de/sortiment/das-sortiment/sortimentsdetailseite.article_id=3602794.html.
“Pasta and Noodles.” Walter Mart Supermarket, Walter Mart Supermarket, Inc., 2017, http://www.grocerydelivery.com.ph/cooking-baking/pasta-noodles.html.
Ray, Margaret and Anderson, David. “Module 20 and Module 29.” Krugman’s Economics for AP, Second Edition, Worth Publishers, 2015, pgs. 201-208 and pgs. 276-285.
“The Cost Of A Child’s Birthday Party.” Y98, CBS Radio Inc., 21 Jan. 2016, http://y98.cbslocal.com/2016/01/21/the-cost-of-a-childs-birthday-party/.
“13tlg. Kerzen Set ‘Happy Birthday’ Deko Geburtstagskerzen.” Real, https://www.real.de/product/301388527/?sl=IEdlYnVydHN0YWdza2VyemVu25bZt7eHtOvbjhpcyZDQUpdxYg-1vvgyksVdqjh-IJc.
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