Financial Status Of American Teens.

With U.S. consumer credit card debt at all-time highs, America’s teens show little inclination to follow in their parents’ footsteps when it comes to maxing out on plastic, according to the latest Teenmark™ data from Mediamark Research Inc.

While 68% of youths age 12-19 said they decide how to spend their own money, only 12% agreed with the statement “credit cards are great,” while 59% agreed that “credit cards are dangerous; they allow you to spend more money than you actually have.”

Presented with the statement, “Not being able to buy everything I want makes me appreciate the things I am able to buy,” 57% of the teenage respondents agreed. But only half of those surveyed agreed with “I try to save money; I’m careful how I spend it.”

Slightly more than one-third of teen respondents said they “usually spend most of my money; I buy what I want when I want it.” Just less than one-third agreed that “I should be able to buy anything I want.”

The survey was conducted among teen residents in households interviewed for Mediamark’s Survey of the American Consumer. Questionnaires were mailed to eligible persons in those households from April through July 2002 and again from April through July 2003. 4,577 youths, aged 12-19, responded.

“The data certainly suggest that teens are more savvy than some might give them credit for when it comes to becoming overextended on credit, and that many of their financial desires are grounded in reality” said Anne Marie Kelly, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning at MRI. “Only time will tell whether these sentiments carry over to real-life habits as they grow older.”

Teens’ responses to 10 questions about their finances are fairly even across gender lines, with two significant exceptions. Females are 22% more likely to agree with the statement, “My parents buy most everything I ask for” and are 25% less likely to agree that “I don’t need to save now; I have the rest of my life to do that.”

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For more information at http://mediamark.nopworld.com