Teens Cautious & Curious About Credit Cards.

Most teens seem to understand that credit cards are a big responsibility, and a surprising number claim that responsibility is best left to adults.

Although 10% of teens actually own one or more charge cards and another 20% express interest in obtaining one, those numbers pale in comparison to the 38% who believe credit cards should be limited to adult use.

This finding is somewhat surprising, according to Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) Vice President Michael Wood.

“Teens often express resentment when adults enact age-based restrictions to exclude teens from certain activities, such as driving or drinking alcohol,” Wood explains. “So their concession that credit cards are more appropriate for mature consumers is quite noteworthy.”

To be fair, there’s a dramatic change in perception between younger and older teens—significantly more 12- to 15-year-olds believe that credit cards should be limited to adults than do 18- and 19-year-olds (49% vs. 18%). Still, the aggregate number is striking.

Even more striking is the extent to which young people view credit-card debt as a threat. Just five percent of teens claim it’s okay to have credit card debt, and only three percent say it’s acceptable to make credit-card purchases without having the money to pay off the full monthly bill. And while teens become dramatically more open to holding credit cards as they age, their resistance to credit-card debt remains emphatic.

Wood says this more cautious view of debt reflects teens’ expanding role in family finances. TRU data has long shown that teens are involved to varying degrees in the family’s purchase decisions—especially in technology-driven purchases. But these findings suggest that teens’ knowledge goes far beyond helping to decide between a computer and a vacation.

Fully 71% of teens report learning about money management from parents, and 35% say they’ve learned about the topic in school. In all, 80% report having some education in personal finance. Wood says this fact has as much to do with modern life as it does the modern family.

“With American credit-card debt at record levels and many families still reeling from a shaky economy, it appears that more than a few parents have given teens a gripping, first-person look at how problematic revolving debt can be,” Wood explains.