Jeffrey Anvari-Clark, University of North Dakota

About 1 in 5 American adults regularly provide unpaid care or financial assistance to their adult relatives or friends. And about 1 in 7 young adults between the ages of 25 and 34 live with their parents.

But the true extent of support among Americans is deeper and broader.

From parents covering the cost of unexpected car repairs to colleagues raising funds for their co-workers’ medical expenses, Americans help each other in countless ways.

As a social work scholar who researches these patterns of what I call “financial interdependence,” I often observe transactions that challenge a common American narrative that most people in this country are handling their expenses on their own.

A long-standing tradition

The practice of sharing money with your friends and loved ones has deep roots in American society. Many Native American communities have traditions of sharing food and other resources with one another.

In the 19th century, mutual aid societies formed everywhere from Philadelphia to Florida. Many of them helped free Black people weather economic hardships. These organizations provided everything from unemployment assistance to burial expenses.

Today’s informal support networks echo these historical patterns.

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In particular, many immigrant communities maintain traditional practices of collectively saving and lending money. Mexican American families often participate in “tandas,” which pool their savings to achieve financial goals or meet urgent needs. Similarly, West African and Caribbean communities in the U.S. organize “susu” groups, while many Chinese American communities form “hui” associations.

Local “hometown associations” additionally often offer both financial and social support to their members – aiding immigrant communities in the U.S. and people back in their homelands.

Everyone does it

These mutual support arrangements are very widespread and operate across all income levels, though they take different forms. They can be secular or religious. The true extent of this kind of activity is generally unknown.

Lower-income families often engage in frequent, smaller exchanges. They might share grocery costs, for example, or relatives may help one another out with the payment of large, unexpected bills.

Wealthier Americans tend to give larger amounts of money to extended family members, but less often. These might include a parent’s help with a down payment on a young adult’s first house or paying a portion of the cost of a grandchild’s college education.

Some families establish formal structures such as financial trusts or 529 educational savings accounts to make these transfers easier to complete and track. The number of people using 529 accounts has been increasing steadily, as states offer matching funds and tax incentives.

The nature of this financial support often reflects economic needs and cultural values. In many East Asian American communities, for example, adult children routinely provide financial support to their parents – as a cultural expectation.

Regardless of the community involved, technology has transformed how people share money with their friends and family.

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Mobile payment platforms make it easier to split costs and send quick assistance. Money-transfer apps have normalized small-scale financial sharing among friends and family.

Online and social media platforms are used to gather resources for medical expenses, funerals or emergency needs. These tools extend traditional support networks beyond geographic boundaries.

Other kinds of support

Financial assistance can extend far beyond direct monetary help.

Families and communities might purchase bulk grocery items together to save money, or live together to manage rising housing costs. Some parents create informal child care cooperatives, while others coordinate care responsibilities for aging relatives with their extended families.

Financial education often emphasizes individual savings and budgeting. Yet, many Americans practice financial interdependence by managing their finances and making decisions in collaboration with others.

Addressing challenges

To meet today’s economic challenges, Americans are finding creative solutions through shared resources.

Young adults increasingly need more help to become homeowners than what they can get from a bank. The median home price has far outpaced wage growth, making family assistance crucial for many first-time buyers.

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College costs have stabilized, albeit at high levels, leading more families to pool resources for educational support. This often creates long-term financial obligations across generations.

Medical expenses remain a leading cause of financial strain, pushing families to rely on each other to pay for health-related costs.

These support systems work at many levels, including family, community, the workplace and in government.

Some employers now offer emergency loan programs and matching funds for employee hardship. Some businesses create formal peer support systems for employees facing financial challenges.

A few states are also supporting family caregivers by providing tax credits to reimburse their out-of-pocket expenses.

Recognizing the financial burden of caregiving, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed a tax credit to support dependent respite services, nursing and transportation.

Some complications

While financial interdependence provides crucial assistance, it can also create challenges.

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Financial responsibilities can strain family and friendship bonds. The provision of too much financial help can create or reinforce power imbalances within relationships. Some communities may not have enough money to be able to equally and effectively assist all members.

Clear communication and healthy boundaries can help manage these tensions.

As economic pressures mount for many American families, these informal financial support networks are growing more vital. Studies show that rising costs make financial stability increasingly difficult to achieve on your own.

Jeffrey Anvari-Clark, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of North Dakota

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Marta Fanasca, Università di Bologna

In Japanese society, prostitution is often framed as a necessary evil – a way to maintain social harmony by providing men with an outlet for their pent-up sexual desires.

While there are a number of issues with this view – such as the implication that men are inherently unable to control their sexual impulses – it also has a critical flaw: It frames prostitution as something that only men want or need.

In Japan, female sexuality is often seen through the narrow lens of heterosexual romance and motherhood.

“Rezu fūzoku” upends this view.

Rezu fūzoku, which roughly translates to “lesbian sexual entertainment,” refers to agencies where female sex workers provide sex to female clients. And in Japan, it’s entirely legal. I began investigating female-to-female commercial sex and escort services in 2023. After initially studying the phenomenon of female-to-male crossdressers offering nonsexual, romantic dates to female clients, I decided to expand the investigation to focus on clients seeking sex and romance. The names of the sex workers and clients I interviewed in my research have been changed in this article to protect their anonymity.

Tapping into a niche market

Unlike in many countries that historically criminalized homosexual acts, Japan only briefly outlawed them in the 1870s, during an era of rapid Western-inspired legal reforms.

After that period, the country did not reintroduce laws criminalizing homosexual acts, allowing same-sex relationships to exist largely without legal interference – even if they remained frowned upon in Japanese society.

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Furthermore, homosexual prostitution has never been illegal. Japan did enact a strict anti-prostitution law in 1956 that bans the practice, which it exclusively defines as penetrative, paid sex between a man and a woman. As a result, any paid-for activity that falls outside of this definition – such as homosexual sex – is not considered illegal.

For my research, I interviewed a man named Obō, the founder of the Lesbian Girls Club, an agency with branches in Osaka and Tokyo providing female sex workers for female clients.

Obō started out his career as a web developer but soon became burned out and disillusioned.

“I wanted to start my own business, and since I was building websites for several adult entertainment shops, I decided to try something similar. It quickly became clear that while the market was flooded with services for men, there were almost none for women.”

So Obō opened Lesbian Girls Club in 2007, an agency arranging meetups between sex workers and female clients in hotels, rather than at a brothel. Since then, it’s become an institution in Japan, with some of his original sex workers still working for Obō.

A diverse clientele

Initially a niche market, rezu fūzoku gained wider attention when the manga artist Nagata Kabi used Obō’s agency and later chronicled her experience in her work “My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness.”

The award-winning manga, which was also released in the U.S. and Europe, introduced the service to many Japanese women who hadn’t previously known about it.

Despite the term “rezu” – lesbian – in the name, Obō’s agency welcomes women of all sexual orientations.

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“Some of our clients are lesbians,” he told me. “But many are straight, also married. Most are between 26 and 35 years old, though we also have clients in their 60s and 70s.”

Many Japanese women still find it difficult to explore their sexuality and express their sexual desires, even with their partners. This often leads to unsatisfactory sexual experiences, which can pave the way for sexless relationships– something which is increasingly commonplace in Japan and a situation that many users of rezu fūzoku services shared with me.

As Yuriko, a 35-year-old heterosexual client of rezu fūzoku, explained, “For the very first time I really enjoyed sex! Rezu fūzoku gave me the chance to try new things and to feel good.”

Sex is wellness

In my interviews, the term “iyashi” often popped up.

It means “healing” and refers to activities or services that provide relief from daily stress and negative feelings. Just as yoga classes or massages are seen as forms of iyashi, sex – especially commercial sex – is also branded this way in Japan.

“Men do not understand women and their bodies,” Yuriko said. “But sexuality is a fundamental part of life, and ignoring it only leads to frustration and dissatisfaction. Sex is iyashi.”

The use of this word shows how prostitution in Japan is not always viewed as something to be ashamed of but can also be seen as a form of self-care.

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For instance, the practice of dispatching a sex worker to a hotel where she meets the client is called in Japanese “deriheru,” or delivery health, stressing the connection with the iyashi realm. Also, a 90-minute session with a professional sex worker for women is often called “wellness course,” which ties sex to physical and psychological well-being.

Sex workers themselves also emphasize the connection between their occupation and iyashi practices, often referring to themselves as “therapists” or “cast” and downplaying the sexual aspects of their work, instead highlighting the wellness-related ones. Aware of the positive impact their services have on women, many of them expressed pride in their work during our interviews.

“It’s rewarding,” Moe, who has been in the industry for six years, told me. “When a customer tells me she was really struggling but now feels she can try a little harder because we met, I feel glad I chose this job.”

Her colleague, Makiko, agreed. “I am proud of this job. It’s very important to me, and I believe it’s quite needed in society.”

Despite the widespread stigma against sex workers in Japanese society, the legal status of rezu fūzoku services offers employees greater protection and ensures clear working conditions.

And as a marker of how the industry has grown, Tokyo alone is currently home to over 10 rezu fūzoku agencies, according to my research.

‘A refuge for the heart’

Yet, despite the existence of services aimed at women’s sexual well-being, gender inequality remains rampant in Japan.

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Women still face significant social and economic barriers. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, Japan ranks 118th out of 146 countries for gender equality and holds the lowest position among G7 nations.

By catering to women’s sexual desires outside of the traditional heterosexual framework, rezu fūzoku challenges conventional narratives about women’s sexuality. In a country that has been experiencing falling marriage and birth rates, listening to women and understanding their needs has become increasingly important.

This legal form of sex work clearly fills a need, offering women a safe place to try new things and entrust their sexual pleasure to an expert – who happens to be another woman. One thing that stood out in my research was how popular the service was among women in heterosexual relationships who seemed eager to explore desires that may be difficult to share with a partner.

But what female clients seek often goes beyond sex itself. Many women simply want intimacy – being hugged, cuddled and cared for in a way that is missing not only in the lives of single women but also in those of women in relationships.

“I use this service for comfort and healing,” said Sachi, a 42-year-old woman who’s married to a man. “It is a kind of refuge for the heart offering emotional richness.”

Marta Fanasca, Marie Curie Global Fellow, Università di Bologna

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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(Family Features) It may not be something you like to talk about, but if you have gastrointestinal (GI) problems, your symptoms may be far more common than you think. According to data from the American Gastroenterological Association, 60-70 million people living in the United States have gut health concerns.

Two common conditions are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). They’re often confused for one another, but these are actually two different GI disorders.

IBS is a syndrome; it is defined by a group of symptoms, does not cause inflammation and rarely requires hospitalization or surgery. IBD, on the other hand, is an umbrella term used to describe disorders that cause chronic inflammation of your GI tract.

The disease is more common than you may realize; a study led by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation found nearly 1 in 100 people living in the U.S. have IBD. The two most common forms of IBD are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Understanding IBD Symptoms
Because it poses serious health risks and can cause permanent damage to your intestines, it’s important to be aware of what IBD is and recognize the symptoms. Your primary care doctor or gastroenterologist can help if you have concerns about these symptoms:

• Intense, crampy pain that doesn’t go away in a day or two or has been present on and off for weeks or longer
• A notable change in bowel movement frequency, whether more or less often
• Frequent diarrhea over several weeks, or loose stools multiple times a day
• Frequent constipation, or constipation alternating with diarrhea
• Urgency on a regular basis or inability to hold back the bowel movement before reaching the bathroom
• Blood with bowel movements
• Mucus in your stool regularly or paired with pain or other symptoms
• Always feeling as though you aren’t fully emptying your bowels

Other symptoms that may have a variety of causes but need extra attention especially if you notice them along with any of the symptoms above include pain outside of the gut, fatigue, loss of appetite and weight loss. In addition, children with IBD may have delays in growth and the onset of puberty.

Diagnosing IBD
No single test can confirm a Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis diagnosis. Your medical history and information obtained from diagnostic testing can exclude other potential causes of your symptoms, since gastrointestinal symptoms are common and can have a variety of causes.

Your first tests will likely include blood and stool laboratory tests. Further testing could include imaging studies of your gastrointestinal tract or a look inside your GI tract through an endoscope.

Identifying Treatment Options
Once an IBD diagnosis is confirmed, you can partner with your doctor to manage your disease. Treatment plans are highly personalized, as what works for one person may not for another. Medication and managing your diet and nutrition are two common treatment recommendations. In some cases, surgery can help improve your quality of life.

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Clinical trials may also be an option for treating your IBD. Through clinical trials, researchers find new ways to improve treatments and quality of life. In fact, clinical trials represent the final stages of a long and careful research process to make new and improved treatment options for patients available.

However, an important part of clinical trials for IBD is patient participation. Without the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, new treatment options for IBD can be delayed or never become available.

Equally important to this process is having a diverse representation of patients that considers race, age or other categories. This helps researchers develop treatments that meet the needs of a vast IBD patient community.  

If you’re interested in participating in a clinical trial, ask your doctor to help you find a trial that is right for you, and visit crohnscolitisfoundation.org to learn more about IBD and treatment options, including clinical trials.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock

SOURCE:
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

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