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aCTIvITy 2.2
continued
What Is the Issue?
Informational Text
among: 5,077 U.S. youth participated in the online study.
passive: not active
My Notes
$211 Billion
and So Much to Buy American Youths, the New Big Spenders
Youths are extremely engaged in all aspects of technology and media and influence family purchases. Plus they have huge spending power of their own.
1 New York, N.Y. – October 26, 2011 – Eight to 24 year olds are ready to spend money in 2012. Two-hundred eleven billion dollars, to be more precise. According to the 2012 Harris Poll Youth PulseSM study, the purchasing power
of today’s youth is something that should not be overshadowed by the spending power of adults. Over half of eight to 12 year olds will spend their own money on candy (61%) and toys (55%) while a quarter will buy books (28%) and one- in-five will purchase clothing (19%). Teens, those 13–17, still crave candy, and half (51%) will make a point of treating themselves to sweets. However, clothing (42%) and entertainment, like movie tickets (33%) have become bigger priorities for this older group.
2 The 2012 Harris Poll Youth Pulse study was conducted online among 5,077 U.S. youth ages 8–24 in August 2011.
3 While the purchasing power of today’s youth is strong, it is made even stronger when coupled with the influence these kids have on what parents buy. For example, seven-in-ten teens have cell phones (69%) and three-in-ten have smartphones (30%). When it comes to smartphone or cell phones, one-third of teens (34%) say they influenced that purchase decision. With over 23 million teens in the United States, that’s a lot of influence.
4 “When we look at what youth today personally own, it’s definitely more
than the generation before them and immensely more than what kids owned two generations ago. What is also important to remember is that youths are
not passive receivers of things,” said Regina A. Corso, Senior Vice President for Youth and Education Research at Harris Interactive. “Today’s youth actively have input into what they have and what their families have.”
Youth and media
5 Tweens, teens, and young adults have not only more things than previous generations, they also have more consistent, available access to vast amounts
of information than their parent or grandparent could have imagined in their youths. Accessibility is made easy by the click of a mouse or the tap of a screen. In fact, over three-quarters of 8–9 year olds (76%) and up to nine-in-ten 16–17 year olds (91%) are on the Internet an hour or more a day, excluding email.
6 When looking at all types of media, on average, tweens spend 8.4 hours engaged versus teens, who spend 12.6 hours engaged with media per day. On average, teens spend 3.6 hours per day online, 2.9 hours watching television, and 1.6 hours each playing video games and listening to an MP3 player.
84 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 7
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