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February 24, 2022

Tooth Fairy leaving a fraction of what she used to under pillows: report

At the ground level, there are precious few economic indicators that actually resonate.

Indeed, even at the height of the recession, you couldn’t quite get a sense of the economy by sticking your head out the door, which is to that if you didn’t lose your job or house and your neighbour didn’t lose his job or house, you might’ve looked at headlines in the Wall Street Journal and went, “I don’t get what all this fuss is about.”

Yet while today’s lingering economic slump doesn’t bear the same dramatics of, say, soup lines during the Great Depression, there are plenty of ways it hits home.

Like, say, the amount of cash the Tooth Fairy’s left under your kid’s pillow.

According to what we imagine is the most scientific of polls from the Delta Dental Plans Association, the cash reward for a yanked tooth today is just a shell of what it once was.

*Bing: Other bizarre economic indicators

Over the past year, the average reimbursement left behind by the Tooth Fairy was $2.10 per tooth, down 42 cents from 2010.

From $2.52 per tooth, that’s a 17 per cent drop, one of the largest dips since the poll was first taken in 1998.

“Like many … the Tooth Fairy needed to tighten her belt in 2011, but she’s hopeful for a recovery this year,” a rep for the Delta Dental Plans Association said.

The most common gift for a tooth, Delta found in its study of 1,355 parents, was one dollar.

Of course, like any provider of a resource, in this case teeth, children are no fools these days. They know the world, they know inflation – they want more.

According to the poll, despite falling reward value, kids actually expect more money in return for each tooth they lose after their first one.

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Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

Jason BucklandJason Buckland

The modern-day MC Hammer of money, Jason can often be seen spending cash that isn’t his with the efficiency of a Wilt Chamberlain first date. After cutting his teeth as a reporter for the Toronto Sun, he joined the MSN Money team with...