This is one of the many findings an MTV report produced. Also, the majority of teens today think life ends at age 30, and four in ten (40%) believe that they will have accomplished all of their life’s goals (dream job, owning a home, having a family, traveling the world, finished their education) by the time they reach that age. So, besides thinking that they will be famous someday (a whooping 25% of teens), teens are actually happier today that they were in 2007 (74% vs. 66%). This last finding was a little hard to swallow. Do teens really are more content today, even with the tough economic times, than they were back in 2007?
Today we see families scaling down in their expenses. According to GameStop, four in five families (80%) are scaling back their summer activities. Two in three (66%) families are cutting back on eating out, 46% will scale back their trips to theme parks, and 38% will hit the movie theater less frequently. Apparently this is not an indicator of teen’ happiness. What seems to be an indicator is how often time is shared with family. While the activities may have been scaled down due to cost, families are still spending time together. Some 63% are attending free community events, 51% are still taking day trips, 34% are expected to play video games together, and 31% plan to hike or bike more with family members.
During the tough economic times that we live in today, one of positive outcomes has been that there is an increase awareness in saving, especially in the Hispanic communities. According to the Hispanic National Currency Poll, more than half of Hispanic parents (52%) teach their children the value of money by having them keep loose change in a piggy bank or container of some sort. The report also mentioned that 38% of Hispanic Parents report their children saving money to buy special gifts for themselves, 37% claim they give money to their kids for having done certain chores around the house and 34% report their children have a savings account.
While these are not things that will become apparent in the next few days, weeks, months, or even years, I strongly believe that in the next decade, we will have a new sense of financial responsibility. Kids are watching parents struggle to make ends meet. They are becoming more and more aware that the financial crisis we live in is in fact something to learn from and that, if in fact they want to meet all their life goals such as landing that perfect job, owning a home, having a family, they will in fact have to begin saving for it today.
{ 0 comments… add one now }