Each day after school, 17-year-old Phyllis Quach goes to a warehouse filled with silk flowers, stuffed animals and other gift items her parents sell through their South Florida wholesale business.
The recession hit the family hard and they can no longer afford the building. Quach helps pack the goods for a move to a cheaper location. On weekends, her mother often goes door to door, hoping to find new retail customers.
"I never want to go through what they go through," Quach said, tears gathering in her eyes.
So Quach is taking a a personal finance course at her Miami high school -- getting early lessons on managing credit, balancing a budget and buying a first home. Experts say the recession's length and severity means it could affect the students' lifelong financial behavior, as the Great Depression affected their grandparents' frugal generation.
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