The Tooth Fairy's payout has outpaced inflation for two decades of American childhood

NPR's Planet Money examines the Tooth Fairy as an overlooked economic indicator. This video tracks the rising cost of a lost tooth, framing the fairy as a stressed executive struggling to manage a budget in a world where payouts have soared.

For twenty years, Delta Dental has tracked the average cash gift left by the Tooth Fairy through a nationally representative survey. While inflation has impacted the broader economy, the price of a tooth has risen at a significantly faster rate.

Data from the survey shows that about twenty years ago, the average payout was approximately $1.30 per tooth. By 2018, that figure had climbed to $4.13. The video uses this trend to explore the financial pressures of modern parenting through a fictional, satirical lens.

Source: What The Tooth Fairy Tells Us About The Rising Cost Of Parenting | Planet Money | NPR