Junk fees and Biden's call to tackle them

Transcript

NIALA: Good morning! Welcome to Axios Today!

It’s Thursday, February 9th.

I’m Niala Boodhoo.

Here’s what we’re covering today: U.S. birth rates go up and buck a trend. Plus, we want to hear about Black artists you appreciate. But first: junk fees and what President Biden plans to do about them. That’s today’s One Big Thing.

Junk fees and what President Biden plans to do about them

NIALA: Random fees for concert tickets, airline seats, and hotel stays,they feel rampant to many of us.

JOE BIDEN: I know how unfair it feels when a company overcharges you and gets away with it. Not anymore, we've written a bill to stop it all it's called the Junk Fee Prevention Act

NIALA: President Biden weighing in on this issue and his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

BIDEN: We're gonna ban surprise resort fees that hotels charge on your bill. Those fees can cost up to $90 a night at hotels that aren't even resorts.

NIALA: The White House says hotels make almost $3 billion a year in resort fees, and the president wants to crack down on those fees, not just at resorts, but with credit cards and beyond. So how did things get so bad and what could reform look like? Alison Pohle is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and joining us for more. Hi Alison.

ALLISON POHLE: Hi. Thanks for having me.

NIALA: Allison. What are junk fees?

ALLISON: There's a lot of debate over what a junk fee is, but simply put, it's something that doesn't give you any value for what you're paying for or something that you'd assume would be included in the overall price. That could be extra fees that pop up when you're about to buy that Taylor Swift ticket or a fee that's charged for using the hotel swimming pool. Even if you don't have any plans to swim.

NIALA: So what industries are most notorious for?

ALLISON: Hotels, airlines, also banks and credit card companies. They are a lot of different industries that the Biden administration is targeting with this legislation.

NIALA: Has this changed? Have things gotten worse with these fees?

ALLISON: We are at an inflection point with the fees. So as inflation has worsened, people are taking a very close look at their bills and junk fees or these added on charges for things that don't seem to have any value can really hurt consumers. So that is why the president is taking the time to crack down on the fees and see if change can be made.

NIALA: And whose responsibility is it to fix this? Is it the executive branch or Congress?

ALLISON: Good question. There are a lot of different people taking this issue on. So the president is advocating that Congress pass a bill to crack down on the fees, and there was a bill introduced in 2019 about hotel resort fees,bBut it didn't go anywhere.They're also agencies looking at this like the FTC, which is the Federal Trade Commission and the CFPB, which is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Both agencies are looking at these extra fees.

NIALA: So what exactly is Biden asking for these agencies to do then?

ALLISON: He's asking for these agencies to create rules that could crack down on the companies. So that could be rules that guarantee prices are disclosed upfront, or rules about what companies are and are not allowed to charge.

NIALA: And if those agencies enact that rule, that I guess circumvent whether or not Congress takes any action?

ALLISON: Congress could also take action. These are different avenues though. The rulemaking process can drag on because it is subject to public comments, so it could take months and months. Whereas if Congress is able to pass legislation, it could get through much faster than through the rulemaking process.

NIALA: And what are Republican stance on all of these? You mentioned this 2019 bipartisan House bill that would require hotels, short-term rentals, for example, to list their upfront costs, that didn't go anywhere?

ALLISON: That's correct. Yeah, the bill never made any progress, um, even though it was a bipartisan bill. So it's going to be tough to get any type of legislation passed as especially in this divided Congress, and even if something does happen, there's still really no guarantee that flying or staying in a hotel would be any less expensive. Companies could still raise prices to replace the loss revenue that they get from these fees.

NIALA: Alison Pohle is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Thanks, Alison.

ALLISON: Thanks again.

NIALA: In a moment: a new direction for U.S. birth rates.

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U.S. birth rates go up and buck a trend

NIALA: Welcome back to Axios Today. I’m Niala Boodhoo.

U.S. birth rates have been declining almost every year in the U.S. since 2007, but some new data shows a change in that trend. According to the CDC, birth rates among women ages 25 and older, especially women in their mid to late thirties, rose in the second year of the pandemic. Axios’ Healthcare Editor, Tina Reed, is here with the details and why this matters. Hey, Tina.

TINA: Hi Niala.

NIALA: Tina, can you take us through this by the numbers? What does the data say about birth rates in 2021?

TINA: Yes, so births were up. There were more than 3.6 million births in 2021. That was up 1% over 2020. And this is notable because it is the first increase in U.S. births since 2014. We also saw an increase in the number of births among women, 25 to 44, in particular among the women who were 35 to 40 years old was where we saw the biggest increase, the birth rate among teenagers ages 15 to 19 fell 7% between 2020 and 2021. That's actually a record low for this group.

NIALA: How does this compare to the first year of the pandemic?

TINA: So in the first year of the pandemic, there was actually a 4% drop in births in the U.S. This was attributed to a few things. First of all, there were fewer people who were pregnant immigrating into the U.S. due to lockdowns. It was also attributed to the stress and uncertainty many would-be parents were experiencing in that first year of the pandemic.

NIALA: Tina. I was talking to a friend about this and she said If I had been able to raise my children in a work from home environment that we have now, I would've had more kids. Is that anecdotal or do we know why this is happening, that more older women are having children?

TINA: She's onto something. So experts are definitely not calling this a baby boom, they're using terms like baby blip or baby bump. Um, because they said a lot of couples who, you know, may have put off having kids in the first year of the pandemic may have had them in 2021. But they're also hypothesizing that with that remote work environment, offering more flexible work arrangements as well as just the fact that a lot of events were canceled, in, in these years of the pandemic. So, there was less fear of missing out on, on a big important event. The timing just appeared to make more sense in 2021. What we don't know yet is if this is going to hold true in 2022 and beyond. That's something experts just aren't sure of yet.

NIALA: So Tina, you mentioned a few other positive trends that emerged from this data, like the birth rate among teenagers declining. What else has emerged?

TINA: We saw prenatal care beginning in the first trimester actually rose in 2021. About 80% of women were receiving it in that first trimester. We also saw a drop in the number of women who smoked during pregnancy. So those were both population level trends that, you know, they've already were ongoing, but it's obviously always good to see those moving in the correct direction.

NIALA: Is there anything in this data experts are worried about?

TINA: One thing that was concerning is the cesarean section rate, did increase, to 32% in 2021. This is after several years of actually seeing a decline in that number. And that's something experts say, you know, it's good to see that number go down. We also saw the preterm birth rate rise, from 4% to 10.5%, and the low birth weight rate also rose to 8.5%. Experts aren't exactly sure what's happening there. They did say that, this may be in, outgrowth from what we saw in terms of disparities during the Covid pandemic. They also said that there was an increase in preterm births among women who'd had covid. but this is something they've still gotta figure out and it's still a little bit tricky of a question.

NIALA: Anything else that stood out from this data?

TINA: So this was actually a pretty interesting trove of data, because this is basically the final data release for 2020. Birth rates. Did you know, for instance, that the highest birth rate is in September? And that nearly a third of births happened between noon and 6:00 PM on a Monday?

NIALA: Axios’ Tina Reed. Thanks, Tina

TINA: Thank you Niala.

Black artists you appreciate

NIALA: For Black History Month, we want to recognize some great Black artists and their work. And I would love to hear from you. Who is a Black artist you admire? Why is their work important to you?

One of mine is Florida-based hip-hop artists Black Violin – you’re hearing a recording I made when interviewing them a few years back. My own nieces and nephews play violin and cello, and I love that this duet – young men of color – are showing my own family and other kids that these instruments provide so much creative possibility.

Please record a voice memo with the name of the artist and why you love their work, plus your name and city and send it to [email protected], or you can text it to me: 202-918-4893. We’ll highlight some of your favorites on the pod.

NIALA: That’s it for us today! I’m Niala Boodhoo - thanks for listening - stay safe and we’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.