Many New Yorkers line up for a tasty and inexpensive snack at one of the city's many street carts. Photo: btorzyn (flickr)

Job losses in New York City has created a black market in a commodity you might not expect: street vending permits.

In a city with rising unemployment —the rate was 8.1 percent in March, nearly twice the rate of a year earlier — some New Yorkers are turning to street vending to make ends meet, Jennifer 8. Lee reports in City Room, a The New York Times blog.

A black market has developed because New York City caps the number of vending permits it issues, and nowadays far more people want to be street vendors than there are permits available.

Some of the city's existing permit holders have realized the potential profits in selling their permits. The going price of one is about $8,000 to $12,000, Lee notes. Sales have been brisk: "[A]bout two-thirds of permits are not even used by the original owner," she writes.

A Tajik woman and child. According to the BBC, selling babies on the black market is common in Tajikistan. Photo: Lambro (flickr)

Cash for babies is becoming more common-place than you might expect in Tajikistan, according to the BBC.

In one of the poorest and most conservative nations in Central Asia, more than 64 percent of the population lives on less than $1 per day. With few economic opportunities in their homeland, Tajik men often leave for better-paying work abroad while their wives take care of their children and manage the household. Yet, it is common for these men not to return home and instead, abandon their families. Some pregnant women left behind by their spouses resort to selling their baby, as they can't afford to feed another child.

In Tajik society, a child born out of wedlock can bring shame on a family. Mothers of illegitimate children will often leave their babies in hospital maternity wards right after delivery to avoid scandal.

Perhaps the primary reason why this baby black market exists is because of the lengthy and complex process for legal adoption in Tajikistan. Childless couples wishing to avoid the arduous process are known to pay mothers and medical staff in hospitals for unwanted babies.

Although there are legal implications for trafficking of children in Tajikistan — up to 8 years in prison — women are still taking the risk of selling their babies because they simply cannot afford to keep them.