According to the U.S. government, the unemployment rate in America is 5.4 percent.

I raise this issue for a couple of reasons. First, if you are the child of a parent who has lost their job or is in a job transition, it can be an anxious time. Second, the holidays can bring about added pressure when someone in the family is unemployed.

Just the other day, a father who recently lost his job shared with me the enormous peer pressure his sixth-grade daughter felt about exchanging gifts with her group of friends. It may not seem like a big deal to most adults, but for a young person who is trying to "fit in," dealing with the loss of a job and the resulting financial adjustments can be somewhat traumatic.

When I was in seventh grade, my father lost his job around this time of year. I am the youngest of four and remember vividly the anxiety I felt about how that might impact the economic routines of our family. I also remember feeling embarrassed and not wanting to tell my friends for fear of being made fun of.

While the majority of people in America are employed, there are still millions of families that are either unemployed or under-employed. As I mentioned earlier, the added pressure of the holidays can certainly compound the problem.

But can there be a positive experience to a job loss? I think there can be. The key is in how you frame the experience within your family.

The following are four tips for helping you reduce the anxiety around a job loss/transition.

1. Agree on a plan for how you are going to communicate the change to your children.
2. Reassure them that even though you might have to make some lifestyle adjustments, everything will be okay.
3. Solicit ideas for cost reduction strategies (aka less spending) from your children and tell them that every idea is welcome.
4. Keep the lines of communication open so they feel comfortable sharing their feelings about the change.

By modeling a healthy process through the transition, you will create positive money memories for your children that will be invaluable as they potentially manage their own job loss/transition as adults.

Have you experienced the impact of a job loss/transition either as a child or an adult?

If so, I encourage you to think about the experience and how it might help you deal with the situation either today or in the future. While the financial challenges aren't always easy, a job transition can certainly help you adjust your financial priorities.

The Money Talks question is designed to build on the Share-Save-Spend tip for the week and can be used as a springboard for additional conversations with family and friends.

The Wall Street Journal reports that "Americans spent $4 billion on personal training and coaching for children in 2000, and the number is believed to have surged since then."

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