Teens Children and Money - Family Income

Almost all children are financially dependent upon their parents, with their financial condition directly dependent on how much their parents earn. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that real income rose throughout the 1990s and then declined from 2001 to 2003. The median (half were higher and half were lower) household income in 2003 was $43,318. For married-couple families it was $62,405—dow…

Teens Children and Money - Children In Poverty

Children are the largest group of America's poor. In 1975 they replaced the elderly as the poorest age group. (See Figure 4.1.) In 2002 the poverty rate for all children younger than eighteen years of age was 16.7%—about 12.1 million children. In 2002 children under eighteen years old made up one quarter (25.5%) of the population of the United States, but over one third (35.1%) of th…

Teens Children and Money - Forms Of Aid To Children

Many programs exist in the United States to assist families and children living with economic hardship. Some of these programs are federally run, and others are run at the state level. In many cases the programs are mandated at the federal level and administered by the states, which can make tracking them complicated. In 1996 the U.S. Congress enacted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportuni…

Teens Children and Money - Child Support

Children living in single-parent families are far more likely to be poor than children living in two-parent households, and the number of children living with only one parent—usually the mother—is increasing. According to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau (Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2001, 2003), in spring 2002 13.4 million parents had custody of 21.5 mill…

Teens Children and Money - The Cost Of Raising A Child

Since the 1960s the Family Economics Research Group of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided estimates on the cost of rearing a child. The estimates are calculated per child in a household with two children and are categorized by the age of the child using different family income levels. (See Table 4.7 and Table 4.8.) Attorneys and judges use these estimates in determining child-s…

Teens Children and Money - Teens As Consumers

Teens Children and Money - Teen Employment

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that in June 2004 8.1 million people ages sixteen to nineteen, or about half of the population that age (50.2%), were employed or looking for work (The Employment Situation: June 2004). The unemployment rate in this age group was 19.9%. Employment rates among the young are highest during the summer months, when many full-time students are out of s…