Teens Children and Money - Teens As Consumers

By the last decades of the twentieth century, teens had a big influence on the economy—from affecting major family purchases to buying groceries. A Rand Youth poll estimated that in 1997 24.8 million teens spent $82 billion. According to Teenage Research Unlimited, by 2003 teens spent $175 billion annually, most of it from parents, gifts, and jobs (Teenage Research Unlimited Press Release, "New Book Helps Marketers in 'Getting Wiser to Teens,'" June 14, 2004, http://www.teenresearch.com/PRview.cfm?edit_id=214 [accessed July 15, 2004]).