Money Smart Kids
How Kids Spend Their Money
Recent polls show children are outgrowing toys and traditional kid things at an earlier age.
By Janet Bodnar, Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
December 5, 2002
As the resident Kiplinger's expert on kids' finances, I'm the repository for all the press releases and reports we receive on how kids spend their money. Often the results are fascinating, and sometimes they're even encouraging. But for parents, the research is most noteworthy as an indication of just how closely the kids' market is monitored and dissected.
For instance, a poll by KidzEyes.com tells us that more than one-third of 6- to 14-year-olds buy something for themselves once or twice a month. And income isn't a factor. Kids in households earning less than $35,000 a year and more than $100,000 are equally likely to be frequent shoppers, making purchases several times a week.
What do they buy? Toys, candy and gum top the list. Boys are more likely than girls to buy computer software or games, electronic equipment and videos or DVDs. Girls shop for jeans, T-shirts, shoes and music.
Toys are more popular among kids in the younger half of that age group. Sadly (in my opinion), the older half -- the so-called tween market -- is outgrowing traditional kid things, such as toys and children's entertainment, at an earlier age, reports the Zandl Group, which follows trends in the youth market. They're rushing (or being rushed) into teen interests, such as music and brand-name clothes.
Zandl also finds that tweens expect to be catered to -- partly a result of more single-child households (because of later marriages and older parents) and parents who are more indulgent, sometimes trying to compensate for a lack of time with their children by giving in to their wishes.
On a brighter note, if you can hold out till the teenage years, kids are showing a tendency to be thriftier, reports Zandl. Girls are doing more of their shopping where they can get stylish outfits on the cheap -- stores such as Aeropostale, Target and Wet Seal. They find both Abercrombie and Gap to be too expensive.
Boys are simply buying less. And when they shop, they're increasingly heading to value-oriented stores such as Kohl's and Wal-Mart -- not to mention secondhand stores and swap meets.
Zandl speculates the shift to thrift may reflect the less-than-robust economy, or a lack of new ideas by marketers. Or maybe it's just a fad, rather than a sea change in spending habits. Whatever, it's a welcome respite for parental pocketbooks.