Ashley Milne-Tyte

Hiring mom or dad

August 15, 2012

Listen here. Aired on Marketplace.

Traditionally a son or daughter would join the family business, usually run by their dad. But things are changing. I recently met a couple of young entrepreneurs who have hired their mothers to work for them (there are plenty of people who have hired their fathers, too, it's just that I couldn't get any of them to talk to me). There are currently no statistics on this, but professors and family business consultants tell me it is a trend, if a small one. One reason is that Generation Y tends to be closer to and more comfortable with its parents than other generations, another is that there are plenty of experienced, recently retired or recently laid-off parents out there, itching for a new challenge. But just because you love someone doesn't mean you're a business match. I really enjoyed talking to all the interviewees in this piece and only wish I could have included more tape of Alexandra Ferguson and her mother, Charlotte (photo from Alexandra's studio, above) and Katie Weiford and her mother Sheila. 

Getting paid to look after a parent

March 18, 2011

Listen here. Aired on Marketplace Money.

Most people who take care of an older relative do it for free - either because they have to, or they want to, or both. It may sound odd to even consider the idea that an older person might pay someone they love to look after them. But a growing minority of family caregivers is paid to do the job. I talked to the Fowler family in Ogallala, Nebraska for this piece - a real treat. Their payment arrangement is informal. But lawyers and the AARP advise family members to sign a so-called personal care contract to avoid running into problems with eachother - and Medicaid - later on. A slightly different version of this story also aired on VOA News.

Dating while unemployed

February 12, 2011

Listen here. Aired on Marketplace Money.

Dating can be hell when life is good. But when you're unemployed, it presents a whole new set of challenges - particularly if you're male.

 A lot of women still expect the guy to foot the bill, and that's a problem when your only income is an unemployment check. I wanted to do this piece because I'd heard plenty about the negative effect unemployment can have on relationships, but nothing about what unemployment does to people who'd like to be in one.

One piece of trivia I couldn't include: OKCupid tells me site users lie about height and income (no surprise to online dating veterans). They've crunched the data, and OKCupid users claim to be a full two inches taller and 20k richer than the rest of the population.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26934867@N07/5433666369/sizes/s/in/pool-33882980@N00/

Couples who work together

August 29, 2008 (originally aired in June)

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This is really two stories, one happy, one sad. Patrick Watson and Michele Pravda run a few food and wine businesses in Brooklyn, and they cheerfully explain how their personalities complement one another and how they make their all-day-at-work, and all-night-at-home relationship work. Not to mention their businesses. They make it sound easy, but not every business couple can pull off both a successful business and a good relationship. My other interviewee had run a small company with his wife, and ended up losing the business and the marriage.

Financial infidelity

June 27, 2008

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I was talking to a credit counselor one day in the spring of 2008, and he mentioned something intriguing: his organization was receiving more calls than usual from one half of a couple in financial trouble. The person wanted help sorting themselves out - while keeping their financial woes secret from their other half. Credit counselors call it 'financial infidelity.'