TWEENS HAVE BIG BUYING POWER
By Adnews Staff
Children between the ages of nine and 14 have a lot of spending power and influence over their families' buying decisions, according to a survey done by Creative Research International. The study was commissioned by YTV Canada of Toronto. The discretionary income of this group of people is $1.5 billion, up from $1.4 billion in 1997. This growth is occurring despite the fact that tweens are working fewer hours and earning less The gender gap for earning starts young. Girls report an average hourly income of $3.60, while boys are making $5.50. The top three items tweens spend their money on are food, followed by entertainment, then clothing. Boys are more likely to buy video games, while girls are more likely to purchase compact discs instead of audio cassettes. Twenty per cent of tweens are saving money for electronic equipment, while 17% are saving for sports equipment. Eight per cent of teens are well aware of the increasing costs of post secondary education and are putting money aside for college or university. Fifty-nine per cent of tweens have their own bank account and 17% have their own bank card. In other findings, 75% of tweens have access to the Internet either at home or at school. Six in 10 have a computer at home and one in five tween households plan to upgrade their computers in the next year. Forty per cent of respondents said they would like to start their own business, with most of them saying being in charge is the biggest appeal of being self-employed. The study was conducted last May. It included 698 interviews in large and small communities across Canada.