Teens Spent $175 Billion In 2003.

Teens spent $175 billion in 2003, a three percent increase from 2002, according to a new study by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU).

According to figures released in the October 2003 TRU Study, teens aged 12 to 19 spent an average of $103 per week last year. This amount takes into account both teens’ own money and the cash they receive from sources including gifts, odd jobs, and parents. The aggregate increase is partially due to a rapidly expanding teen population. The Census Bureau estimated the U.S. teen population numbered just fewer than 33 million individuals in 2003.

This teen-spending data supports TRU’s theories about the impact of the economic downturn: teens tend to be less sensitive to recessionary pressure than do adults. Teens—who boast a wide variety of income sources and relatively few financial obligations—spent five percent more of their own money in 2003 compared to 2002. Parents, apparently more cautious about expenses due to the prolonged period of economic uncertainty, kept a tighter reign on the money they gave to teens: spending of parents’ money remained flat from 2002.

According to TRU Vice President Michael Wood, teen consumers historically are more optimistic than the general population as a whole.

“Thanks to its unique circumstances—a great deal of disposable income paired with fewer recurring debts—the teen segment tends to have a much bolder attitude toward spending than does the general population,” Wood explains.

Teens’ confidence in their spending ability for the upcoming year reflects this optimism. Some 45 percent of teens predict they’ll spend more money in 2004, and 34 percent expect to spend about the same. Only 21 percent anticipate spending less than they did in 2003.

“This unbridled consumer optimism, paired with a teen population that will continue growing through the year 2010, makes teens an incredibly powerful consumer group,” Wood says. “Marketers are increasingly aware of this fact, and so are teens. Young people have grown accustomed to marketers’ attention, and they’re demanding more of the messages directed toward them. Teen marketing campaigns must be immediately engaging—as well as lifestyle-relevant—or they’ll be dismissed immediately.”

TRU polls more than 2,000 demographically representative teens to compile its annual teen-spending report.