. V “ad f}? ______.-_________._._,~..,..§.. ._,,. 4\-.--.«. TEENAGERS’ USE OF MONEY BY SEX AND SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS Thesis for the Degree of M. S. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ' MARY ELLEN DAWS BENEDICT 1968 * ~~--~ v-me-mufim; -. ‘ 4.? '-*~..~=‘a: “4%.; x ' ‘3 ' :5. '——-— IWWH ‘ [a :1 ABSTRACT TEENAGERS' USE OF MONEY BY SEX AND SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS by Mary Ellen Davis Benedict This study was designed to gain further knowledge about the way teenagers use their money. The 201 tenth teenagers surveyed were selected because of the known socio- economic class distribution of their respective communities. There were 43 teenagers placed in the Upper socioeconomic group, 82 in the Middle and 76 in the Lower socioeconomic class grouping. The MDSTAT and ACT computer programs were used to find relationships between the variables studied. Gordon's Survey of Interpersonal Values which ranks Support, Recognition, Benevolence, Leadership, Conformity, and Independence through forced choices, was used to describe the characteristics of the teenagers in the study. Teenagers in this study received a mean of $11.76 for the questionnaire week. Thirty-four per cent of the teen- agers reported a job outside the home as their major source of income. However, parents through various means such as the allowance, dole, and payment for jobs in the home, were the major source of income for more than half of the teen- agers. Mary Ellen Davis Benedict Over half, 62 per cent, of the teenagers had established some method for saving. The largest percentage of the teenagers were saving for an advanced education, cars or clothing. Teenagers indicated that peers had the most influence and were the most frequent companions when shopping for inexpensive articles. When shopping for expensive items parents had the most influence and mothers were the most frequent shopping companions. Although half of the teenagers used their parents charge accounts, few had charge accounts of their own. Of those using their parents charge accounts, about a fourth paid for the items charged themselves, another fourth indi- cated that both they and their parents paid for the items charged. Boys spent more on cars, sports and sports equipment, snacks and dates. Girls spent more money on clothing, cosmetics, church and put more money into savings than did boys. Few teenagers in this study had checking accounts of their own. TEENAGERS' USE OF MONEY BY SEX AND SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS By Mary Ellen Davis Benedict A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE, Department of Home Management and Child Development 1968 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Sincere appreciation is eXpressed to Miss Esther Everett for her guidance and assistance in the preparation of this thesis. Gratitude is also expressed to Dr. Beatrice Paolucci, and Dr. Richard Heifner for their helpful sugges- tions and to Dr. James Shaffer for his assistance with the questionnaire. Appreciation is also expressed to my husband without whose encouragement this thesis might not have been completed. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS o o o o o o o o o o o o 0 11 LIST OF TABLES o o o o o ‘ o o o 0 h o o o o 0 1V LIST OF CHARTS o o o o 0 V o o o o o o o o I 0 Vi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . .' . . 1 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . 6 III. PROCEDURES . . . . . . . .- . . . .- 19 IV. DESCRIPTION OF TENTH GRADE STUDENTS . . . . 25 V. TEENAGERS' USE OF MONEY . . . . . . . . 37- VI. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS . . . . . . . .4 . 6A VII. IMPLICATIONS . . . . . . . . .' . .. 71 SOURCES CITED . . . . .. . .~ . . . .- .~ . . 76 APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . .« . . 78 iii Table l. 10. 11. 12. 13. LIST OF TABLES A Comparison of Occupational Groups of Parents of Tenth Grade Students in School A and SChOOl B O O O 0 O O O O O O 0 O O 0 Percentage Distribution of Family Income by Socioeconomic Class . . . . . . . . Percentage Distribution of Family Income by sex 0 o o o o o o o o o o o o ' Percentage Distribution of the Number of Persons in the Family by Socioeconomic Class. . . . Percentage Distribution of the Degree to Which Mothers Work by Socioeconomic Class . . . . Percentage Distribution of the Degree to Which Mothers Work by Sex of Respondent . . . . A Comparison of National Means and the Means of 201 Teenagers and SIV Components . . . . A Percentage Comparison of the Amount of Income by Main Source of Income . . . . . . . A Percentage Comparison of Teenage Income by Sex, Socioeconomic Class, and Percentage of Total Group . . . . . . . . . . . Percentage Distribution of Income Received by sex 0 O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Amount of Income Received by Socioeconomic Class 0 o o o o a o ' o o o o o o 0 Percentage Distribution of Dollar Amounts Received by Teenagers by Family Income . . . A Percentage Comparison of Shopping Behavior for Inexpensive and Expensive Articles by Socioeconomic Class . . . . . . . . iv Page 27 28 29 3O 31 32 33 38 Al A2 43 AA A6 Table 114. 15. 16. 17. l8. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 2A. A Percentage Comparison of the Relative Importance of Several Factors on the Purchase of Inexpensive and Expensive Articles by Socioeconomic Class . . ._ . Percentages of Boys and Girls by Total Dollar Amounts Spent During the Questionnaire Week Means of Teenagers'Expenditures . . . . .- Articles of Expenditures by Sex and Percentage of the Total Group . . . . . A Percentage Comparison of the Articles of Expenditure by Socioeconomic Class . . . A Percentage Comparison of Teenagers Use of Parents' Charge Accounts by Sex and Socioeconomic Class . . .< . . . . . Dollar Amounts in Teenage Savings Accounts- by Sex and Percentage of Total Group . . Dollar Amounts in Teenage Savings Accounts by Socioeconomic Class . . . . .' . . A Percentage Comparison of the Distribution of Depositors in Teenage Savings Accounts by Sex and Percentage of Total Sample . . A Percentage Comparison of the Location of Savings for Questionnaire Week by Socioeconomic Class and Percentage of Total Sample . . . . . . . . . . A Percentage Comparison of the Reasons Given by Teenagers for Savings by Sex and Percentage of Total Sample . . . Page A8 A9 50 53 54 56 58 59 6O 61 63 CHARTS Chart Page I. Percentage Distribution of Teenagers by Socioeconomic Class for Six Inter- personal Values . . .~ . . . .‘ . . . 35 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Home management has been described as a practical discipline in which the concepts are normative.l That there is poor management and ways to achieve better management is understood. In order to determine what should be in a given situation we first need to determine what that situation is. This beginning can then be used as a basis for changes that may then be needed. Principles must be directly related to something before they become effective.2 In teaching, where concepts are drawn from the principles and theories which make up the basic construct of the discipline, this becomes especially meaningful. In surveying teenage use of money educators will be in a better position to guide teenagers in learning about the use of their money. Adblescence is a stage between childhood and adult- hood, and the person is somewhat like the person in both these stages and also entirely different. thoda H. Kotzin, "Remarks on the Appropriateness and Adequacy of a Conceptual Framework to a Discipline, with Special Reference to Home Management," in Conceptual Frame- works: Process of Home Mangement, Proceedings of a Home Management Conference. American Home Economics Association, Washington, D.C., 1964, p. 9. 2Elizabeth Walbert Crandall, and Irma H. Gross, Mana ement for Modern Families (Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, l963), p. A98. Adolescence constitutes by definition an interruption of peaceful growth which resembles in appearance a variety of other emotional upsets and structural upheavals.3 In each stage of human development there is a central problem that has to be solved at least temporarily, before the individual can proceed to the next stage. However these problems are never solved in entirety but reappear in a new form with changes in environment and experience.“ The source of deveIOpment turns upon itself in a spiral like 5 manner, characteristic of reciprocal interweaving. How— ever each conflict appears in its pure form at a particular stage in the growth of a child and if the problem is well solved at this time the basis for progress to the next stage is well laid.6 The central problem of adolescence is the search for identity. Who he is? Why? Where he is going? Thus adolescence becomes a period of storm and stress where previous certainties are questioned and previous continuities are no longer accepted without A 3Anna'Freud, "Adolescence" in The Causes of Behavior: Readings in Child Development and Educational Psychology. (Boston. Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1962), p. 241. u"A Healthy Personality for Every Child" in The Causes of Behavior: Readings in Child Development—35d Educational Psychology (Boston, Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1962), p. 202. 5Lois Meek Stolz, "Youth: The Gesell Institute and its Latest Study" in The Causes of Behavior: Readings in Child DeveIOpment and Educational PsychOlogy_(Boston, Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 19627, p. 57. 6A Healthy Personality for Every Child, op. cit. question or relied upon. The tremendous physiological changes and rapid growth provide the somatic base for the turmoil and indecision. It may also be that cultural factors play an important part-since adolescence is less upsetting in some societies than in ours. In his search for identity the adolescent seeks to clarify who he is, what his role in society will be, what he will be as a- worker-earner, how peOple will look at him in regard to his role and religion. Sometimes he is preoccupied with how he appears in the eyes of others as compared with his own con- ception of himself, and also with how he can make the roles and skills he has prveiously learned relate to what is currently in style.7 In primitive societies adolescents are spared these doubts Of self through initiation rites which prove to the adolescent and tribe that he is an adult. There are few "rites" in our society, and much variation from family to family in what is expected and what is permitted of the adolescent. Therefore adolescents eager to be on their own way, are practically forced to conformity in their search for status. In this, they are ably abetted by advertisers and entertainers who seek their patronage, as well as by magazine writers who describe in great detail how uniformity can be achieved.8 7Ib1d. 8Ibid., p. 209. In this urge to find comfort in similarity, the adol— escent is likely to become stereotyped in behavior and ideals. Adolescents tend to form cliques for self- protection and to fasten on petty similarities of dress and gesture to assure themselves that they are really 9 Adolescents must achieve independence in their somebody. social and emotional life from their parents while they continue for the most part to remain dependent upon them for the material necessities of life.10 Adolescents must make this break, and it makes little difference to their emotional situation whether or not this libinal flight is followed by actual flight.11 The chum relationships of late childhood, which are so important to the individual's social and emotional devel- opment shift during the early adolescence to intense per- sonal relationships with members of their own sex and are more enduring and selective than before.12 At first these are "best-friend" relationships which enlarge to include a few others at a later date. The adolescent is a conformist 9Ibid. lOEthel Kawin, Later Childhood and Adolescence, Parenthood in a Free Nation Vol. III (New York, The MacMillan Co., 1963), p. 19A. llFreud, op. cit. l2Kawin, op. cit., p. 205. to his peers. He gains self confidence through the fact that others in the group share his eXperiences, as the group provides him with his behavior patterns.13 Usually the ideals of the leader of the adolescent group are taken over wholeheartedly and without criticism by the other members of the group.lu In his quest for self-identity the adolescent must pull away from his parents, other authoritative members of his family, and familiar surroundings to question and examine all aspects of his life, to be an independent, self- reliant, self-directed adult. He also needs the support and security of his peer group. By conforming to peer group demands he belongs, and is somebody. The characteristics of the teenager, such as his growing need for independence, his need for recognition, his need to feel responsible-~to be a responsible worthwhile person in his own eyes and in the eyes of his peers,15 may definitely affect the manner in which he uses his money which in turn may enable him to achieve some of these goals. These demands on the adolescent might influence not only the spending he does on his own, but also that which he influences his parents to do for him. 13Ibid., p. 217. l”Freud, Op. cit., p. 243. 15Evelyn Mills Duvall, Family DevelOpment (New York, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1957), p. 29A-297. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE This chapter is designed to present those aspects of teenage use of money that have been previously researched. Source of Income Hurt,l6 in her study of homemaking students' expendi— tures in thirty-eight states, found that in the ninth and tenth grades a slightly higher percentage of the students obtained money by asking for it when needed, the dole method, than by any other method. In the study by Dunsingl7 on money management practices of tenth and twelfth grade girls, five sources were presented to the students from which to choose: allowance, irregular earnings from parents, irregular amounts given by parents, earnings from outside employment, and gifts of money. Irregular amounts given by parents, was chosen more than any other choice. Of the 964 girls participating nine-tenths received money from this source. Of the 323 tenth graders participating in the study 16Mary Lee Hurt, Teenagers and Their Money (Washington: National Educational Association, Department of Home Economics, 1961). ‘ l7Marilyn Dunsing, "Money Management Experiences of High School Students," Journal of Home Economics, LII (November, 1964), pp. 756—762. 98 per cent chose the dole as their most frequent source of income. The next most important source to the teenagers in this study was gifts of money, with 65 per cent of the total group indicating this as a source. Fifty per cent of the tenth grade students indicated gifts as a source of income. The allowance rated next with 52 per cent of the total group indicating this as a source of income and 59 per cent of the tenth graders choosing this selection. The teenager does not depend upon one source for his income. In this study two-thirds of the girls (92A) received money from two to three sources. The combination of sources most frequently selected by each grade was the dole and gifts of money. For tenth graders the most fre- quent combination of choices was the allowance and dole° In the Powell and Cover study18 on the adolescent consumer involving seventh, ninth and twelfth grade boys and girls in South Carolina, it was found that over one- half of the respondents received money from their parents with no work required. In addition, a varying per cent of boys at each grade level received money from their parents for work that was done at home. 18Kathryn Summers Powell and David A. Cover, "The Adolescent as a Consumer: Facts and Implications," .Marriage and Family LivinggCAugust, 1963) pp. 359-364. 19 study in Ohio, on thirteen, fifteen In the Tengel and seventeen year old boys and girls and their work experiences, the source of three-fourths of the income for the teenagers was from the home. One-half of the income was from irregular jobs and less than one—fourth from regular jobs. It was most common for the tenth graders to receive an allowance of money for odd Jobs at home. Funds from regular jobs were received in the highest proportion by boys and seniors. A higher percentage of girls received funds from irregular part-time jobs than> boys at all grade levels. Boys were able to find more regular part-time Jobs than girls. In the Gilbert2O study it was found that teenagers often worked in the summer time when they did not work year round. In the fifteen to seventeen year old group of boys, 38.7 per cent worked part time in the summer. Whereas, 2.9 per cent of the boys worked regularly year-round and A7.6 worked regularly in the summer. It was found that 56.6 per cent of the boys did not work at all year-round, with 26.7 who did not work at all in the summer. 19Patricia Marie Tengel, Teenage Production--Income Earnings and Work Experience in South Euclid-Lyndhurst Ohio (Cornell University, Masters Degree Thesis, l96A). 2OEugene Gilbert, Advertising and Marketing to Young People (New York: Printers Ink Books, 1957), pp. Al-72. Of the girls in this fifteen to seventeen year old group 23.8 per cent worked part time year—round and 20 per cent worked part time in the summer. Whereas 1.8 per cent worked regularly year-round and 25.7 worked regularly in the summer time. Of the girls 71.8 per cent did not work at all year-round, and A9.6 per cent did not work at all in the summer. In the Scholastic study reported by Paolucci21 it was found that teenage income sources were generally as follows, A9 per cent from regular allowance, A8 per cent received earnings in part-time Jobs outside the home, 33 per cent received income in odd amounts from parents, and 18 per cent earned their income doing special Jobs at home. Over half of the students in this study reported having had more than one source of income. Dollar Amounts of Teenage Income The amount of money a teenager had to spend varies in the studies. Hurt22 found an average of from $.90 to 23 $11.75 a week. Bruner distinguishes between the income received by boys and girls with the mean amount for girls 21Beatrice Paolucci, and Helen Thall, Youth and Money (Washington: National Education Association, Depart- ment of Home Economics, 1964), pp. 1-28. 22 Hurt, o . cit. 23Karen Jeanette Bruner, Teenage Consumers' Spending and Saving Patterns (Cornell, Masters, June, 1965), pp. 1-95. 10 as $7.51 and for boys as $8.33. Likewise Tengelzu found that boys received slightly more income than girls, with an average of $8.85 for boys and of $7.87 for girls. Gilbert25 presented his information as a range with “.3 per cent of the boys receiving no income, 15.8 per cent receiving up to $2.99, 61.8 per cent receiving from $3 to $15.00, and 14.2 per cent receiving over $15.00. Of the girls studied, 5.9 per cent received nothing, 20.2 per cent received up to $2.99, 62.0 per cent received from $3 to $15.00, and 6.8 per cent received more than $15.00 Shopping Practices of Teenagers In Okerlund's26 study of boys' independent choices in shopping it was found that there was no significant relationship between the age, source and amount of personal income and the number of independent decisions. She found that the peer group was of greater influence in shopping choices in the seventh and ninth grade than in the eleventh, and.that the ninth graders were more resistant to parental influence in their shopping than the seventh or eleventh 2”Tengel, Op. cit. 25Gilbert, op. cit. 26Phyllis Okerlund, A Comparative Study of the Inde- pendent Decisions Made by Three_Groups of Adolescent Boys Relating to Their Ages,pSocio-economic Statps,andSource and Amount of Personal Income (University of Maryland, Master, 1965), pp. 37-76. 11 grade boys. Though representing only a few, 6.3 per cent of her sample, those receiving $15.00 or more made more independent decisions. Several studies gave some information in regard to what teenagers consider influences their spending. Evans27 in her study on the motivation for selecting and wearing clothing, found that of the 159 students 151 responded that they bought what they liked rather than what others would approve of, and yet only seven were activated by a desire to be independent. Answers to indirect questions that were asked indicated that independence ranked second to winning the approval of others. Powell and Gover28 found that half of all the youth in each grade level studied reported complete freedom in the use of their money, this proportion 29 increased with age. Evans found that the actual wearing of clothes serves a different purpose than the selection of them as teenagers like to choose their own clothes inde- 30 pendently. Cramer studied the influence of advertising media upon 147 seventh and eighth grade girls by surveying 27Evelyn S.Evans, "Motivation Underlying Clothing Selections and Wearing," Journal of Home Economics (LVI, December, 1964), pp. 739-793. 28Powell and Gover, op. cit. 29Evans, op. cit. 30Willa Ruth Cramer, Exposure to Three Advertisipg Media Related to Purchases of Junior High School Students: (Pennsylvania State University, Masters, 1964), pp. 30-38. 12 the possible exposures to advertising in relation to the number of items purchased by the teenager. The majority of the products that were purchased by the girls could have been seen on teleVision and in the magazines, very few could be seen in the newspapers. The students were asked why they made their purchases and the reasons given were that the articles that they had purchased were: the cheapest, used by their parents or friends, articles that they had used before, articles that they liked, articles that they needed, or that the teenager was hungry or thirsty. The writer mentioned that the method employed did not allow precise measurement of the exposure to advertising in a way to be sure that the students saw, or did not see advertising relating to a product, only the possibility that they could have seen it was determined. In the Dunsing3l study it was found that students customarily went shopping alone or with their mothers. The next most likely choice of a shOpping companion was a girl friend.’ Students usually shopped around rather than pur- chasing all items in the same store, except in the case of shoes. Brand names were relatively unimportant to students in the buying of dresses and skirts, but were more important in the buying of shoes. Factors that were important in 31Marilyn Dunsing, "Spending Money of Adolescents," Journal of Home Economics (SLVIII, June, 1956), pp. 395- 408. l3 influencing selection were ranked as color, style and fit, in all items except low heeled shoes. Most important in the selection of these shoes was the brand. Classmates exerted a positive influence on the purchase of sweaters, skirts, flats and to a lesser extent blouses. However mother, rather than the classmate appeared to be more important in the purchase of dresses and heels. The desire that these be different from what classmates were wearing received a high rating. Okerlund32 found that advertising in fashion magazines or newspapers to be one of the less important factors. Hurt33 found that students have a great deal of independence in deciding how to use their money. Tenth graders-made most of their decisions alone, as 66 per cent fell into this category. Approximately 38 per cent decided with the help of their parents, and 8 per cent decided with the help of friends. Parents were less influential in making decisions as the students grew older as compared to other influences. There were definite sex differences in shopping habits between boys and girls in the studies reviewed not only in what they buy, but in how they buy. Boys spend 320kerlund, op. cit. 33Hurt, op. cit. l4 slightly more money than girls, and the girls spend more time in shopping for what they buy. Brunner3)4 found that boys purchased cars (or items for cars), clothes, Sports equipment and recreational items. In this study, girls bought gifts, clothes, school lunches and miscellaneous items. Powell and Cover35 found that the following, in descending order of their importance, snacks, school lunches, recreation and savings were the items for which teenagers used their money. They found that clothing expen- ditures increased with age and with increased funds from sources outside the home. Girls were found to spend a larger proportion of their money on clothing, whereas boys spend more of their money on recreation and hobbies. Gilbert's36 findings indicate that after school lunch, the boys spend larger proportions of their dollars on sports, dates and snacks, and that girls spend their money on clothing, Jewelry, movies, records and savings. Bruner37 found that girls spent more time shopping than boys regard- less of age. 34 35 36 37 Bruner, op. cit. Powell and Gover, op. cit. Gilbert, op. cit. Bruner, op. cit. 15 Use of Credit Teenage use of credit increases with age and varies with sex, girls using it more extensively than boys. In the 38 study 60 per cent of the girls used credit as Bruner compared to 32 per cent of the boys. More girls had used their own lay-away plans, installment accounts and credit cards. However the number of students actually using credit in the study was small, as only nine used credit during the week of the survey. This same general finding 39 study, where there was reported in the Powell and Gover was an increase with age in the percentage having charge accounts in their own name, and a similar increase in the degree to which the teenagers used their parents' charge accounts. There was no increase in the freedom to use parents charge accounts with an increase in age. Contrary to this, there was less freedom to use parents accounts with an increase in age. More girls had personal charge accounts, and girls of all ages bought items on lay-away more frequently than did boys. The BruneruO study indi- cated a strong relationship between the teenager's use of credit and his parent's use of credit. However, the sample 41 involved was too small to be conclusive. Sewalt in her 38Ibid. 39Powell and Gover, op. cit. uoBruner, op. cit. ulMary Ann Bippes Sewalt, Use of Credit by Teen-Age Girls in a MetrOpolitan Area (Texas Woman's University, Masters, 1966). 16 study of teenage girls' use of credit, found that the girls primarily used credit through their parents' charge accounts. The proportion of girls using these accounts increased with age. In all, 65 per cent of her sample used credit, with 46 per cent of the freshmen using credit as contrasted to 76 per cent of the seniors. Clothes and cosmetics were the major items charged by the girls, and the most frequent form of credit used was the lay-away. Sewalt found that the more hours that a girl worked the more likely she was to use credit. There were few, eight per cent, who had personal checking accounts but those that did, did not have a charge account. Teenage Saving Another aspect of use of money is savings. Bruner found that there was little difference between the mean amount saved by boys, $6.99, and that saved by girls, $4.51. In the Hurt“3 study of 42 per cent of the students put money into savings. In the Scholastic study reported by Paolucci,uu it was reported that 68 per cent kept their savings at home, in a bank or some other place. Of these teenagers 51 per cent had commercial or savings bank accounts. Of those teenagers having savings accounts, 29 ”2Bruner, op. cit. 43Hurt, op. cit. uuPaolucci, op. cit. 17 per cent were saving for education, 18 per cent were saving for clothes, 10 per cent were saving for a car, six per cent were saving for sports equipment and one per cent were saving for photographic equipment. In this sample 26 per cent stated no special reason for saving. These findings contrast somewhat with those found by Powell and Gover.“5 In that study, a minority, less than from one-third to one-half of each age-sex classification saved any money. The greater proportion of the non-savers were children of laborers and farmers. Of those that saved, both sexes in all three grades preferred a more informal method of saving, that is, to keep their money at home rather than to put it into a bank, savings and loan asso- ciation or buy stamps or bonds. Socioeconomic Status Whether or not socioeconomic status or class is a variable affecting teenage spending is questionable. Bruneru6 found that teenage use of credit did not vary positively with socioeconomic status except in the use of their parents' charge accounts. The parents use of credit was found to increase from low to high socioeconomic status groups. Mean spending of the teenagers did not vary significantly with usPowell and Gover, op. cit. 46 Bruner, pp. cit. l8 “7 study no signifi— socioeconomic class. In the Oppenheim cant difference was found according to social class structure. The results of these studies would indicate that teenage spending patterns may be related more to peer group standards than to socioeconomic class. Although there was no relationship of teenage expenditures and socioeconomic class, teenage expenditures did vary with age and sex, and increased with each age level. Teenagers may be a more homogeneous grouping than their parents due to a lack of fixed expenditures. This tendency makes his income discretionary and often places his spending on a different economic level than his parents. Another factor may be the teenagers desire to be like his peers. This causes him to imitate behavior and dress of other teenagers which in itself would affect his expenditures. u7Irene Gartner Oppenheim, A Study of the Consumer Role of Young Adolescent Girls in Grades Seven; Eight and Nine in Irvington, New Jersey (New York University, Ph. D. Thesis, 1961). CHAPTER III PROCEDURES This chapter discusses the procedures followed in the development and testing of the instruments for this study. Instruments A questionnaire was developed for the purpose of examining the spending habits of teenagers. Questions in the instrument were designed to involve many aspects of the teenagers' use of money. The source of the teenagers' income was divided into the various ways he might receive it from his parents or other relatives, and his own earnings. The amount of the income received by the teenagers was determined to the nearest dollar. Teenagers were asked if they used any credit, and what they used it for. What he bought with his money, and if he saved, what he was saving for was also asked. Questions were asked pertaining to the number of hours spent shopping and the number of stores visited. Information on the family was asked in order to determine the socioeconomic class. The McGuire—White tables as illustrated by Cateoral48 were used to determine socioeconomic status. Status was u8Phillip R. Cateora, An Analysis of the Teenage Market. Bureau of Business Research. The University of Texas, 1963, pp. 4-6, 119—121. 19 2O determined from weighted scores in a combination of the three component scales which are: education, source of income and occupation of the father. First, the father of the teenager was rated from one to seven on each of the components. These ratings were then multiplied by the apprOpriate weights: five for occupation, four for source of income, and three for education. This total index score was then used to estimate the individual's socioeconomic class level. Lower scores indicated higher socioeconomic class levels. The Upper socioeconomic class was estab- lished as those fathers with scores between 12 and 33, the Middle class as those with scores between 34 and 53, and the Lower socioeconomic class as those with scores ranging between 54 and 84. Few respondents fell into the extremes of the scale. A values instrument was chosen to further describe the characteristics of the teenagers surveyed. This “9 has instrument, Gordon's Survey of Interpersonal Values been widely tested throughout the United States on college students and in the California secondary schools. Scores are determined through forced choices in a series of triad groups of statements involving personal relationships. The six areas tested are: Support, Conformity, Recognition, Independence, Benevolence, and Leadership. Support is that ugLeonard V. Gordon, Surveypof Interpersonal Values. Science Research Associates, Inc., Chicago, 1960. 21 which involves being treated with understanding, encourage- ment and kindness. Conformity is doing what is socially correct or acceptable to others. Recognition is that which involves being treated with respect, or being considered important. Independence is being free from external controls and regulations. Benevolence, is helping others less fortunate than oneself. Leadership is that quality which involves being in charge of others or in controlling them. Testing These instruments, the SIV and the questionnaire, were tested on groups of teenage girls from the local high schools who were participating in a trainee or work program at the Home Management House at Michigan State University. The work program was a combination working and learning exper— ience for which these girls received high school credit. These girls were asked if there were any questions that were difficult to answer or to understand after taking the Survey of Interpersonal Values and answering the ques- tionnaire. Their suggestions were incorporated and the revised questionnaire was retested on another group of trainees. These girls were similar in age and socioeconomic class to those to be used in the survey. 22 Method Tenth graders were chosen for the survey because at this grade level there would be included in the sample potential drop-outs and the resulting group would give a more complete socioeconomic class distribution. Also this age range, 15 through 17, is approximately the median age of adolescents. The schools surveyed were selected because of their known socioeconomic distributions. The combination of the schools would give a more complete distribution of students in the three socioeconomic classes. The original plan was to survey a Lansing, Michigan school, however as the date approached permission was withdrawn to administer the survey. The questionnaire and SIV test were administered within a two-week period to tenth grade students in School A and School B. In both schools the questionnaire week was two weeks prior to the spring dance. In both School A and School B the entire population of the tenth grade was to be surveyed. However, in School B a situation developed which prevented the administration of the survey to the entire class, and as a result less than half of the students in School B were involved in the study. Specific directions were given with the questionnaire and SIV test. Students marking consistently more than one of the three statements in the SIV test invalidated that test and had to be drOpped from the study. Students were 23 also dropped if they failed to complete enough of the necessary questions concerning occupation, education and source of income of their fathers as this information was needed to establish socioeconomic class. Of the 253 students taking the survey 52 had to be eliminated. 0f the teenagers remaining in the study 98 were boys and 103 were girls, 43 were placed in the Upper socio- economic class, 82 in the Middle, and 76 in the Lower socio- economic class. The questionnaires and SIV tests of the 201 respondents were coded using a ten place IBM card. The SIV test was then ranked according to the instructional booklet in which answers were pre-coded to represent one of the six interpersonal values being tested. A high number score indicated an emphasis placed upon the interpersonal value. The scores were then ranked using a zero to nine system with the zero representing the lowest categories and the nine the highest. The questions asked in the questionnaire were coded in a similar manner with each position on the IBM card representing a different answer. Answers were then punched on the cards using one set of cards for each respondent. The cards were checked and verified. Programs used for the analysis of these data were MDSTAT, Missing Data Statistics Program, and ACT, Analysis of Contingency Tables, which gave information on means, 24 frequencies and simple correlations of all variables on which this information was desired, as well as percentage relationships in table form. The programs were used to establish relationships between the variables. CHAPTER IV DESCRIPTION OF TENTH GRADE STUDENTS The study was confined to boys and girls who were enrolled as tenth graders. The sample was further limited by the selection of two quite different school settings. Characteristics of Communities The School A district was an urban area with a pop- ulation of 53,604 according to the 1960 census. Of those that were 15 years of age in this district, 414 were boys and 381 were girls. Of those students 2 boys and 3 girls were classified non-white. The median years of education completed by males in School district A was 10.5, as compared to the 10.8 years completed by females. Of the men, 14.5 per cent had completed or started college, 22.9 per cent had completed high school, 24.2 per cent had completed some high school, and 28.4 had less than eight years of schooling. These groups were exclusive. Occupations held by these men also varied, with the greater proportion in the labor class, craftsmen and only a few classified as professionals. 25 26 The School B district draws upon a different popu- lation situation. School B is in a suburban area with 160 teenagers in the tenth grade (15-16 years of age) of these 51.2 per cent were boys and 48.8 per cent were girls. All of these students were classified as white. The median years of education completed by the fathers of these students was a four year college education or at least 16 years of schooling. Of these men, 20.5 per cent held a Masters or Doctors degree, 32.7 per cent had completed a college education but not an advanced degree, 18.6 per cent had two or more years of college education, but no degree, 23.7 held a high school degree but had no advanced training, 2.8 per cent had from 1 to 3 years of high school, and 1.7 per cent had less than eight years of schooling. In contrast to the School A district, the greater proportion of these men were in professional rather than craftsmen or laborer type occupations. A further comparison of School B and School A occupational groupings can be found in Table l. The McGuire-White comparison of occupation, education and probable source of income would indicate that the School B population has a higher proportion of the Upper socioeconomic classes, and that School A has a higher pro- portion of the Lower socioeconomic classes. 27 TABLE l.-—A Comparison of Occupational Groups of Parents of Tenth Grade Students in School A and School B. School A50 School 351 Occupational Groups Per cent Per cent n = 187 n = 156 Professional Doctors, (M.D., Ph.D) Engineers, Architects 7.0 42.3 Teachers, High School Elementary Accountants 1.5 16.0 Self Employed merchants Farm Managers 12.0 18.5 Clerical 7.5 9.6 Craftsmen Foremen 36.0 9.2 Truck Drivers Operatives 16.0 3.2 Laborers, Farm workers Household workers 16.0 1.2 Not Working 4.0 0 TOTAL 100 100 501960 Census of the Population, Vol. I Character— istics of the POpulation, Part 24, Michigan. 51School B Records. 28 Family income was not used as a factor in determining socioeconomic class in the McGuire-White tables, however an approximate amount of the income available was used as a check on the information received about the main source of income for the family. Of the incomes reported, all seemed plausible in comparison to the socioeconomic classes in which the teenagers had been placed. There were 14.4 per cent, 39 teenagers, who did not respond to this question. Upon first glance at Table 2 the 5.3 per cent of the Lower socioeconomic class who received more than $12,000 per year might seem doubtful. However many crafts- men command high wages for their services so that incomes such as these are possible. Another possibility would be TABLE 2.--Percentage Distribution of Family Income by Socioeconomic Class. Socioeconomic Class Family Income Upper Middle Lower n = 43 n = 82 n = 76 $0-4,000 0 1.2 11.8 $4,000-8,000 o 19.5 30.3 $8,000—l2,000 39.5 37.8 25.0 Over $12,000 55.8 22.0 5.3 No Response 4.7 19.5 27.6 TOTAL 100 100 100 29 that teenagers may not know the family income. There was no appreciable difference in family income by sex. Further information on this topic can be found in Table 3. TABLE 3.--Percentage Distribution of Family Income by Sex. Sex Family Income Boys Girls n = 98 n = 103 $0—4,000 15.1 4.9 $4,001-8,000 20.4 18.5 $8,001-l2,000 31.6 33.9 Over $12,000 25.5 20.4 No Response 17.4 22.3 TOTAL 100 100 A possible factor in the amount of family income available to the teenager would be the number of other persons living in the home and supported by the family. However a classification of the respondents by the number of persons living in the household and by family income (Table 4) indicates that the majority of the families fall into the four to six person grouping regardless of income. Of those in the 7 to 9 person families more teenagers fell into the Upper and Middle socioeconomic classes than in the Lower. 30 TABLE 4.-—A Percentage Distribution of the number of Persons in the Family by Socioeconomic Class. Number in Socioeconomic Class Household Upper Middle Lower n = 43 n = 82 n = 76 0-3 11.6 8.8 14.5 4-6 74.6 65.5 75.0 7-9 13.8 26.7 10.5 TOTAL 100 100 100 A factor which may affect the income available per member of the household hathe mother who works outside the home. As can be seen in Table 5, approximately 16 per cent of the mothers in the Upper socioeconomic class worked full time as compared to 23 per cent of the mothers in both the Middle and the Lower socioeconomic classes. Fewer mothers in the Middle socioeconomic class (9.7) worked part-time than in either the Upper (18.6) or the Lower (14.4) socioeconomic classes. Approximately the same number of mothers in the Lower socioeconomic class and the Upper socioeconomic class worked occasionally, 18 per cent, as compared to a 14 per cent of the Middle socioeconomic class mothers. In every case the largest percentage of the mothers did not work at all, however more Upper and Lower socioeconomic class mothers worked than did those in the Middle socioeconomic class. 31 TABLE 5.--Percentage Distribution of the Degree to Which Mothers Work Outside the Home by Socioeconomic Class. Degree to which Socioeconomic Class the Mother works Upper Middle Lower n = 43 n = 82 n = 76 Full-time 16.3 23.2 23.4 Part—time 18.6 9.7 14.2 Occasionally 18.6 14.6 18.4 Not At All 46.5 51.2 39.5 No Response 0 1.3 4.7 TOTAL 100 100 100 The per cent of boys' mothers as compared to girls' mothers who worked is approximately equal in every class- ification. This would indicate that differences by sex in teenage income might not be directly related to the mother working. Scores on the Survey of Interpersonal Values test are a result of a forced choice between three statements that represent six value orientations. These scores are designed to represent a hierarchal arrangement of values which can be compared to national norms in order to establish whether or not the person tested ranks high, medium or low on the values as compared to others of his age and background. 32 TABLE 6.--Percentage Distribution of the Degree to Which Mothers Work by Sex of Respondent. Degree to which Boys Girls the Mother works n = 98 n = 103 Full time 22.3 21.4 Part-day 14.3 12.6 Occasionally 13.4 20.3 Not at all 50 42.7 No Response 0 3 TOTAL 100 100 In comparison with the National means (Table 7), the boys in this sample had higher scores in Support, Recog- nition, Independence, and Leadership, and lower scores in Conformity and Benevolence. The girls had higher scores in every value tested. The range of scores on Independence was larger than for any of the other values tested, more teenagers ranked in the very high and very low categories. An examination of the SIV scores by socioeconomic class reveals that teenagers classified in the Upper socioeconomic class received higher scores than either the Middle or the Lower socioeconomic classes, on Support, Recognition, and Benevolence. Those teenagers in the Middle socioeconomic class received higher scores on 33 w.HH m.om m.mH m.ma m.mH H.wa mahfio moa m.oa o.wH m.sH s.mH o.eH m.sa masfiouuaseofisoz m.ms m.ma m.mH H.mH m.:H s.sa maom mm m.sa s.ss m.ma e.mH w.sa s.mH msomnnaoeoflssz dash mocmao> cosmUQOd coapfic upoommq locom IOUQH Iwooom mpHEDomcoo unconsm mcmoz moCmEOQEoo mmsHm> Hmcompmdmmch mo >m>psm .mDQOQOQEoo >Hm on» com msmwmcmme How mo mammz one one memo: HmQOHumz mo acmflsmosoo <||.n mqm..\ \ .C ./’l .0. .\ \\ .0. .// .‘ ‘\. \ a l 0 \ ° 20 ‘b /‘/’ O. '\.\\ .0 /o// ... \. ‘ O. a , \ ° 10 - /r’ ’ - ‘Q‘ . Support O I o. 0/ ’/ .0 \.\o v 0 o/cn . o o a o ' \ O O O O O O C) C) O O O H (\J m :I' L(\ \D L\ CD 0\ O H Percentile 30 1 /:~:""’-":\’ -—- ""'~ ’ ~ ‘ 20 « X4 ‘ " ' ' '° ° ° "\'.°.—'-‘.'-r."<'"—'\ I /.. ‘ 0“ o I . o ’ } \ /‘ . ' . 10' ,x.‘ '.3 Leadership 0 \.o .‘ ‘il . . - 4 t t 3 O C) O O C) O O O C) O O H (\J m 3' Ln \0 N CD ON C) Percentile H 30 T I/\ ‘l " a... I... r’;::; ‘ 0-?" \ 0.. 2O . ". ” \.\ \ '0 /". 1’ .\ \\.o O 0 I ' .- «1- '£5’ \.\, o\\\ 10 [/0 "rm Benevolence ”7"“. " a e - - : : . i +— O C) C) O O O O O C) O O H (\J m :T‘ m KO N 00 O\ O H Percentile Chart I.——Continued. CHAPTER V TEENAGERS' USE OF MONEY This chapter is concerned with the relationships that were found to exist between teenagers use of money, sex, and socioeconomic class. Source of Income Of the choices given; odd jobs at home, dole, allowance, good grades, good behavior, jobs outside the home, gifts, and other, the largest single source of income for the teenagers reporting was a job outside the home. Of the 201 teenagers in the group 34.4 per cent reported this as a major source. However, when all five sources that stem from the parents are combined, more than half (109) of the teenagers reported parents as their main source of income. A comparison of the source and the amount received by teenagers can be found in Table 11. The same proportion holds true when examining the income sources by socioeconomic class, represented in Table 12. Of those classified Upper socioeconomic class, 53.3 per cent reported parental sources as their main source of income. Of those teenagers classified in the Middle socio- economic class 51.2 per cent reported parents as their main 37 38 OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH OOH Hmnmm moompO mEon pm. .omHz mpMHO moow UooO OooO oocmonH¢ mHoO whom OOO oEoocH Dmcpo _ mudmpwm mo pcsoe< .mEoosH go mopzom CHM: an mEoocH mo pcsoe< on» mo somHDMQEOO own»:monmm m m.:m O.oz om om O.mm o.mm O.Hm szoq NWHC m.mm m :.m: o om s.om m.:m .Hm oHoon Que OH :.mm MH om o m.m: H.OH m.mH momma mmmHO OHEOQQOOOHoom mHuc HHuc mOuc mus :uc mm": Hmuc mmuc DOH>mzom mOOMDO coca mQOH .omHz mpmHO whoa UOOO vooO IonH< OHOO UUO mEoocH mo condom chz .dsonO Hmuoa no mmecoonmm ocw .mmmHo OHEOCOOOOHoom can xmm an mEoocH mecome go oopsom :Hmz mo comHAMQEOO owmpcmohom .m m.mm m.O OQOH< O>HmQOmecH O>HmCOme m>HmQOoncH o>HmGOme o>HmcmdxmcH m>HmQOme coHQMQEOO wcHoncm HON H CO szoq Amw H CO OHOOHS Am: N GO Dogma .mmmHO OHEocooooHoom an mmHOHum< O>HmCdem one O>HwQOmecH Dom D0H>mnom mcHddozm mo somHDMQEOO Omancmommm <11.mH mqmO .OH 0.0H m.w :.Om mpcopmm o o o o o o o o o o o o mHCHHU CC“ 3 O O a a O OH A O m O m OH m s m m H m O H O msom sooHo O O O 0 O O O O O I O mxgmuflo whopm O Fm O m Om m m mm O OH m mm m 5 mm O OH O mm m O mocHNwwmz .>E m.mH 0.0> .Om m.mm ~.HH m.MO O.NH H.OH m.» m.mO .OH 0.0m msmom ammoq pmoz pmmmq pmoz pmmmq pmoz pmmmq who: ummmq pmoz pmmoq pmoz wcHddocm O>HmcmdxmcH o>Hmcmdxm m>chmdxocH o>HmCOme O>HmCOmecH o>HmCOme mocmsHmcH HON H CO szoq Amm H CO OHUUHE Am: N GO Load: pmzu mp0pomm .mmmHO OHEOCQOOOHoom mp mmHOHps< O>Hmcmdxm Ocm O>HmCOmecH mo mmmzossm map so whopomm Hmam>mm mo mocmpDOQEH o>HpmHmm mcp mo COmHDdeoO ommpcmoamm OII.:H mHOOB 49 involved, an interpretation of the question to refer to only cash expenditures, or the error due to the ten teen- agers who did not report their expenditures. TABLE 15.--Percentages of Boys and Girls by Total Dollar Amounts Spent During the Questionnaire Week. Total Boys Girls: n = 191 n = 93 n = 98 0 5 5.2 4.9 01.-.99 3 3.6 2.1 1.00-4.99 28.8 30.5 27.2 5.00-9.99 24.2 23.1 25.7 10.00—14.99 15.8 13.4 17.8 15.00-19.99 12.4 13.4 11.5 20.00—29.99 10.8 11.1 9.5 The most frequent item reported as an expenditure was school lunch with 69.6 per cent reporting this expense. The mean expenditure for this item was $1.56 (Table 16). Between meal snacks ranked next with 45.8 per cent of the teenagers reporting this expense, with a mean of $1.02. Clothing was an important item with 44.3 per cent reporting the purchase of some article of clothing during the week of the questionnaire. The mean amount for one article of clothing purchased was $9.62. In addition, 22 teenagers TABLE l6.--Means of Teenagers Expenditures. 50 Number of Means Teenagers Clothes and Appearance 1 Article of clothing 9.62 90 2 Articles of clothing 4.92 22 3 Articles of clothing 4.93 8 Grooming supplies 1.88 29 Food School lunches 1.56 138 Snacks 1.02 91 For the Family 1.85 7 Fun Movies, concerts, plays 4.69 38 Records, magazines, books 2.42 62 Hobbies 6.68 16 Sports and sports equipment 5.10 17 Car expenses 9.18 38 Dates 4.78 27 Gifts For the family 5.53 20 For friends 2.27 21 Church, benevolences 1.36 51 School expenses .81 39 Stamps .45 18 Phone .66 9 Loan to Parents 6.23 12 Loan to Brothers or Sisters 1.86 16 Savings 5.98 35 Other 4.44 19 51 reported buying two articles of clothing with a mean expen- diture of $4.92. Eight teenagers reported buying a third article of clothing with the mean of $4.93 for these items. Approximately 20 per cent of the teenagers spent money in each of the groupings under the area recreation. As these categories are not mutually exclusive it is not known whether or not these were largely the same teenagers or different teenagers spending in this area. The mean amounts spent ranged from $1.40 for hobbies to $5.10 for sports or sports equipment. About one-fourth of the teenagers reported a church donation, with the mean dollar amount of $1.26 for the 51 teenagers reporting this expense. A savings for the week was reported by 12.4 per cent of the teenagers with a mean dollar amount of $5.98 Many more girls than boys spent money on clothing, cosmetics, church, gifts and school expenses during the questionnaire week. More girls than boys saved during the questionnaire week. More boys than girls spent money on snacks, magazines and records, sports and on car expenses. Boys were more likely than girls to lend money to their parents or other family members (Table 17). A comparison of the socioeconomic classes shows that the Upper and Lower socioeconomic classes spent more on clothing than the Middle socioeconomic class. The Lower 52 socioeconomic class teenagers spent more on food for the family than did those in the Upper or Middle socioeconomic class. These three groups were similar in the amount spent for school lunches, however the Upper socioeconomic class teenagers were lower in their expenditures for snacks. In the groupings of expenditures for fun, the Middle and Lower class teenagers spent more for movies, plays and entertainment of this type, than did those in the Upper socioeconomic class. More of the teenagers in the Upper socioeconomic class spent money on records, books, and on sports activities. The Middle and Lower socioeconomic class teenagers spent more proportionately on cars and on dates than did those in the Upepr socioeconomic class. Teenagers in the Upper socioeconomic class had more expenditures for gifts for the family than did the teen- agers in either the Middle or the Lower socioeconomic class. More teenagers in the Middle socioeconomic class spent money on gifts for friends. The teenagers in the Lower socioeconomic classes spent more proportionately on school supplies than did the other two groups, and the teenagers in the Upper socio- economic class spent more on church and benevolences. There were more teenagers in the Lower socioeconomic class than in either the Middle or the Upper classes who saved during the week, those in the Upper saved the least. 53 TABLE 17.-—Articles of Expenditure by Sex and Percentage of the Total Group. Percentage of Total Egg; $1583 r1=193 Clothes and Appearance 1 article of clothing 44.7 30.6 64 2 articles of clothing 10.9 5.1 19.4 3 articles of clothing 4 0 7.9 Grooming supplies 14.4 5.1 23.3 Food School lunches 68.6 67.3 69.2 Snacks 45.2 52 37.6 Food for the family 3.4 3 3.9 Fun Movies, concerts, plays 18.9 17.4 19.3 Records, magazines, books, hobbies 33 3 41.8 37.0 Sports and sports equipment 20.4 28.5 7.7 Car expenses 18.6 31.6 6.7 Dates 13.5 20.4 7.7 Gifts For family 9.99 8.1 11.6 For friends 10.5 5.1 13.5 Church, benevolences 25.3 18.3 32.1 School Expenses 14.4 13.2 21.3 Stamps 9 1 13.6 Phone 4.4 6.9 1.9 Loan to Parents 6 7.1 4.8 Loan to brothers or sisters 4.9 7.1 3.9 Savings 11.4 11.2 23.3 Other 8.9 8 1 10.6 54 TABLE 18.--A Percentage Comparison of the Articles of Expen- diture by Socioeconomic Class. Upper Middle Lower n=43 =78 n=72 Clothes and Appearance 1 Article of clothing 44.7 37.7 48.4 2 Articles of clothing 6.9 10.8 12.9 3 Articles of clothing 4.7 2.4 5.2 Grooming supplies 18.6 17.1 9.3 Food School lunches 73.1 69.6 66.8 Snacks 39.6 47.6 46.1 For the family 2.4 2.5 5.3 Fun Movies, concerts, plays 18 19.8 8.5 Records, magazines, books, hobbies 76.7 35.3 47.9 Sports and sports equipment 16.2 2.2 3 Car expenses 9.2 22.9 20.6 Dates 7 17.1 13.2 Gifts For the family 18.5 7.2 7.8 For friends 5.4 10.9 8 Church, benevolences 32.6 24.4 22.4 School expenses 17.3 14.7 26.4 Stamps 6.9 4.8 13.3 Phone 2.4 6.1 4 Loan to parents 0 7.4 7.9 Loan to brothers or sisters 0 8.6 4 Savings 14 15.0 21.2 Other 2.4 13.5 9.3 55 Only teenagers in the lower two socioeconomic classes gave loans to parents or other family members. Use of Credit To obtain some idea of the parents' use of credit, the teenagers were asked how much credit their parents used. Of the 195 teenagers who answered this question the mean number of charge accounts, credit cards or law-away acounts given for parents was 11.07. When asked if they used their parents' charge accounts 43.2 per cent answered yes and 55.9 per cent answered no. One person gave no response. As can be seen in Table 19 approximately the same proportion, or half of the boys and girls, use their parents' charge accounts. There was no noticeable difference as to the use of parents' charge accounts by socioeconomic class between the Upper and Middle classes, however a much smaller number of the teenagers in the Lower socioeconomic class used their parents' charge accounts. Twenty per cent (20.3) of the teenagers replied that they did not know their parents' attitudes toward their using credit. There was an additional 3.4 per cent who did not respond to the question. Of the remaining 76.3 per cent, 31.5 per cent replied that their parents would not allow them to charge anything to their accounts. Twenty-two (22.8) per cent indicated that they would need 56 TABLE 19.--A Percentage Comparison of Teenagers Use of Parents' Charge Accounts by Sex and Socioeconomic Class. Parents' Charge accounts used Socioeconomic Class Sex ' Upper Middle Lower Boys Girls by teenager's n=43 n = 82 n= 76 n=98 n=103 Used charge accounts 53.4 51.2 28.9 44.9 41.8 With no restrictions 4.6 0 2.6 1.9 3.0 Restricted to a dollar amount 0 7.3 2.6 7.1 9 Used only with permission given each time 48.8 33.9 23.7 35.9 37.9 Do not use parents' accounts 46.6 48.8 71.1 55.1 58.2 to obtain prior approval on all purchases charged to their parents, and 8.9 per cent indicated that approval would be needed only for large purchases. There were 6.9 per cent who indicated that their parents would allow them to make any charge purchase desired. There were 10 teenagers who indi- cated that they had charge accounts in their own names. 57 In response to the question, who pays for the items charged by teenagers on their parents accounts, 11.4 per cent reported paying for the items themselves, 18.4 per cent indicated that their parents paid for the item, and 12.4 per cent indicated that both they and their parents paid for the items. Approximately 58 per cent of the teenagers gave no response to this question. I Use of charge clubs, such as the R.C.A. Record Club, Doubleday Book Club, and Readers Digest Book Club, was reported by 14.4 per cent of the teenagers. Of these, 25.6 per cent reported belonging to a record club, 46.2 per cent reported belonging to a book club, the remaining 28.2 either belonged to more than one, or t5 other types of charge clubs. Checking Accounts Of the 201 teenagers in the group, 4.5 per cent had checking accounts, of these nine students, eight also had savings accounts. The mean dollar amount in the checking accounts was $118.44. Savings In this group 62.6 per cent of the teenagers reported that they had a personal savings account. The mean amount in these savings accounts was $386.71. The highest amount in savings reported by the group was $1,600.00. There was an additional 2.6 per cent who reported having a savings 58 account, but gave no dollar amount of their savings. One girl gave no response to the question. Sixty-three (63.8) per cent of the boys and 66 (65.7) per cent of the girls reported having a savings account. Although the mean amount in savings was $286.71, 82.1 per cent of these teenagers had $200 or less in their accounts. There was no consistent difference by sex in the dollar amounts in savings. A general indication was that boys have larger amounts in their acounts and girls have smaller dollar amounts (Table 20). TABLE 20.--Dollar Amounts in Teenage Savings Accounts by Sex and Percentage of Total Group. Dollar Percentage of Sex Amounts Total Sample Boys Girls n = 126 n=98 n=103 $ 0-10.00 8 7.1 3 $10.01—50.00 27.4 14.1 22.3 $50.01-100.00 21.7 13.1 7 17.5 $100.01-200.00 16.9 10.2 10 $200.01—300.00 8.9 6.1 5 $300.01-400.00 2.4 1 2 $400.01-500.00 4.3 3.1 2 $500.01-1000.00 8.8 8.1 3 $1000.01-1600.00 1.6 l .9 TOTAL 100 63.8 65.7 59 Differences in the amount in savings accounts were small except that more of the Upper socioeconomic class teenagers have accounts that have dollar amounts of more than $201.00 (Table 21). However in the largest dollar division, the two respondents came from the Middle and Lower socioeconomic classes. In answer to the question, who deposited the money in the savings account, 42.4 per cent of the teenagers replied that they did, and 9.9 per cent said that their parents also deposited in their savings acounts. Parents TABLE 2l.--Dollar Amounts in Teenage Savings Accounts by Socioeconomic Class. Dollar Upper Middle Lower Amount n= 43 n = 82 n= 76 $ 0-10.00 2.8 15 8 $10.01-50.00 28.5 24.5 27.4 $50.01-100.00 14.3 22.6 21.7 $100.01-200.00 17.1 17 16.6 $200.01-300.00 11.4 7.5 8.3 $300.01-400.00 5.7 0 2.8 $400.01—500.00 5.7 3.7 2.8 $500.01-1000.00 14.2 7.5 5.5 $1000.01-1600.00 0 1.9 2.8 TOTAL 100 100 100 60 alone deposited the savings in 7.9 per cent of the cases, and grandparents and others in 4.4 per cent of the cases. There were 71 (34.5 per cent) who did not respond to the question. A greater proportion of the boys than of the girls made their own savings deposits, and four times as many girls had their savings deposits made by parents. TABLE 22.--A Percentage Comparison of the Distribution of Depositers in Teenage Savings Accounts by Sex and Percentage of the Total Sample. Percentage Depositors of Total Efgg giigg n = 201 - Teenager 42.4 48 38.6 Parents 7.9 3.1 12.6 Both teenager 9.9 6.0 13.6 and parents Grandparents 2.9 4.2 .5 Others 1.5 2.0 .8 No Savings Account 35.4 36.7 33.9 TOTAL 100 100 100 61 In answer to the question, "where do you keep your savings," 43.4 per cent of the teenagers reported having their savings at home in a safe place. Twelve per cent put their savings in a bank or Savings and Loan Association. The Upper and Middle socioeconomic class teenagers made more use of the bank and Savings and Loan Association services than did the Lower socioeconomic class teenagers. More responses were given by Upper and Middle socioeconomic class teenagers to this question than by Lower socioeconomic class teenagers. In every class more teenagers indicated a special place in the home as the location of their savings than any other place TABLE 23.--A Percentage Comparison of the Location of Savings for Questionnaire Week by Socioeconomic Class, and Percentage of Total Sample. Socioeconomic Class Percentage Location Upper Middle Lower of Total n=43 n = 82 n= 76 Sample Savings & Loan 9.3 7.3 4 6 Bank 16.3 13.5 7.9 12. Savings Bond 0 1.2 2.6 2 Home (special place) 46.5 36.6 40.8 43.4 Parents 0 3.7 1.3 1.5 Other 2.4 3.7 6.6 4.1 None Saved 2.3 4.9 6.6 5.0 No Response 23.2 29.1 30.2 26.0 TOTAL 100 100 100 100 62 Although 62.6 per cent of the teenagers reported having a savings account, only 17.4 per cent reported a savings for the week surveyed. When asked for what they were saving, the most fre— quent response was that they were saving for an education. The next most frequent response to this question was that they were saving for clothing. To save because their parents wanted them to do so was the least mentioned response. More girls than boys were saving for clothing, education and in order to marry. More boys than-girls were saving for a special occasion, a car, for emergencies or for other reasons (Table 24). Approximately 15 per cent- of the teenagers saved more during the questionnaire week than they usually did, and 12.4 per cent saved less. Approximately 31 per cent said they saved about the same amount as they usually did and there were 41.3 per cent of the teenagers who gave no response to the question. 63 TABLE 24.--A Percentage Comparison of the Reasons Given by Teenagers for Savings by Sex and Percentage of Total Sample. Reasons Sex Percentage for of Savings Boys Girls Total n=98 n=103 n = 201 Education 28.6 32 30.3 Clothing 16.3 28.2 22.3 Special Occasion 16.3 8.8 12.3 To marry 2.1 5.8 3.9 For a car 13.3 6.8 9.9 For emergencies 3.1 2.9 2.4 For parents .9 1.9 1.4 Other 6.1 5.8 6.0 No Response 13.3 7.8 11.5 TOTAL 100 100 100 CHAPTER VI SUMMARY OF FINDINGS This chapter is designed to summarize the results of this study in relation to previous studies. Teenagers are in a period of their lives where they act, and are treated as adults, and as children. They no longer accept the opinions or values of their parents or other adults without question. Instead they need to strike out on their own, to be independent in some way of their family. Teenagers play many roles, and are constantly bombarded with social and cultural pressures to be like their peers. Through similarity with their peers they are able to find comfort and to express differences with their parents. This need for independence was reflected in the scores of teenagers in this study on the Survey of Inter- personal Values Test. Independence scores ranged higher than the national norms, and resulted in a higher mean score than the national mean scores for this value. Girls in this study rated Conformity as a more important value to them than did the boys. Independence was more important to Lower socioeconomic class teenagers than to Upper or Middle socioeconomic class teenagers. Other differences 64 65 by socioeconomic class were also evident in this study. Teenagers in the Middle socioeconomic class received the highest scores, indicating they placed the most importance on conformity, and teenagers in the Upper socioeconomic class placed the least importance on conformity. Upper socioeconomic class teenagers received the highest scores on Support, Recognition and Benevolence, and Lower socio- economic class teenagers scored lowest in Leadership. Source of Income In comparison with studies previously conducted in this area, more teenagers in this study worked full or part time on jobs outside the home during the school year. This effort to be economically independent may be an indi- cation of the teenager's drive toward independence from his parents. The most frequent source of income in this study, as in previous studies, was the teenagers' parents. This was also true by socioeconomic class although a much larger percentage of teenagers in the Middle and Lower socioeconomic classes relied upon employment outside the home than did those in the Upper socioeconomic class. The dole was the most frequent source from parents mentioned by teenagers in this study. This finding is similar to that in the Hurt52 and Dunsing53 studies. 52Hurt, op. cit. 53Dunsing, op. cit. 66 Amount of Income In this study the mean amount of income received by tenth graders was $11.76. This amount is generally more money received than was reported in previous studies. There was little difference in the amount of income received by socioeconomic class. In comparison with the amounts received other weeks, a larger number of the teenagers in the Middle socioeconomic class received more income during the questionnaire week, and more teenagers in the Lower socioeconomic class received less income for the week surveyed. Shopping Practices Tenth graders in this study gave a mean of 6.75 hours and 5.3 places shopped during the questionnaire week. They also indicated that they shOp alone, or with a girl friend for inexpensive items and with mother for expensive items. ShOpping may serve as a social exper- ience, in that it was often shared with another teenager, or as a way of asserting independence by shOpping alone. Okerlund‘j}4 reported that peer groups have greater influence on younger teenagers in the seventh and ninth as compared to eleventh grade students. In Evans'55 study, winning the approval of others was more important than independence. SuOkerlund, op. cit. 55Evans, op. cit. 67 Decreasing amounts of teenagers in this study shopped with their mothers for expensive items in the Upper, Middle and Lower socioeconomic classes. More Upper as contrasted with Middle and Lower socioeconomic class teenagers shopped with a girl friend for inexpensive items. More Middle and Lower socioeconomic class teenagers shOpped alone for both inexpensive and expensive items. There was little difference by socioeconomic class on the rankings teenagers gave on what influences their spending, their peers influence them more in the buying of inexpensive items and their parents in the purchase of eXpensive items. Expenditures The expenditures of students in this study were similar to those in previous studies. Boys spent their money on snacks, magazines, records, sports, cars, or lent money to parents or other family members. Girls spent their money on clothing, cosmetics, church, gifts, and school expenses during the questionnaire week. Previous studies have also pointed out definite sex differences in 56 expenditures. Powell and Gover found that boys spend more on recreation and hobbies and girls spend more on clothing. Gilbert57 reported that after the purchase of 56Powell and Gover, op. cit. 57Gilbert, op. cit. 68 school lunch, boys spent more on sports, dates, and snacks, and that girls spent more on clothing, jewelry, movies, records, or put their money into savings. Major items of expenditure regardless of socioeconomic class were school lunch, clothing, records, magazines, and books in that order. In all but clothing, a higher per- centage of Upper socioeconomic class teenagers spent in these areas than did Middle or Lower socioeconomic class teenagers. In clothing, a higher percentage of Lower socioeconomic class teenagers spent money for this item than did either Upper or Middle socioeconomic class teen- agers. In other areas, a higher percentage of Middle and Lower socioeconomic class teenagers spent money on cars than did Upper socioeconomic class teenagers. A higher per- centage of the Upper socioeconomic class teenagers spent money on gifts for family, church, and other benevolences as compared to more teenagers in the Middle socioeconomic class who spent more money on friends' gifts. There were more teenagers in the Lower and Middle socioeconomic class who gave loans to parents, brothers and sisters than in the Upper socioeconomic class. There was a higher per- centage of Lower socioeconomic class teenagers who saved than in any other class. 69 Use of Credit Boys and girls in this study used their parents charge accounts as their main source of credit. In all 43 per cent of the teenagers used credit. This is low in comparison to the 65 per cent who used credit in Sewalt's58 study on girls, and the 60 per cent of girls and 32 per 59 cent of the boys who used credit in Bruner's study. There was little difference in the use of parents' charge accounts by Upper and Middle socioeconomic class teenagers in this study. However, a much smaller number of Lower socioeconomic class teenagers used their parents' charge accounts. This finding is similar to that of Bruner's6O who found that use of parents' charge accounts increased from low to high socioeconomic status groups. Checking Accounts A small percentage, 4.5 per cent, of the teenagers in this study used a personal checking account. This is comparable to the 8 per cent of who had checking accounts in Sewalt's61 study on girls. 58Sewalt, op. cit. 59Bruner, Op. cit. 6OIbid. 61Sewalt, op. cit. 70 Teenage Saving Boys generally had larger dollar amounts than girls in their savings, and more girls than boys saved during the questionnaire week in this study. Of the 62.6 per cent who reported having some sort of savings, only 17.4 per cent reported a savings for the week surveyed. In general Upper socioeconomic class teenagers have savings accounts with larger dollar amounts and more Lower socio- economic class teenagers saved during the week surveyed. Upper and Middle socioeconomic class teenagers made use of formal savings methods such as a bank or savings and loan association in larger percentages than did lower socio- economic class teenagers. In comparison with previous studies, except for the Scholastic62 study where 68 per cent reported a savings, more teenagers in this study saved during the questionnaire week. Teenagers were saving for many items in this study, of these education was the most frequently mentioned. Although there were many depositors, parents, grandparents relatives, for the most part the largest proportion of the teenagers in this study made their own savings deposits. 62Paolucci, Op. cit. CHAPTER VII IMPLICATIONS This chapter is concerned with the possible implications of this study for home management research and teaching. Teenagers are earning more and controlling more money than they ever have in the past. They are presently or will soon be independent spending units perhaps with the reSponsibility for self and/or their own families. The teenager is self—centered in his spending, buying in the areas of foods, snacks, and clothing for himself and recreation. Can he move from self-centered spending to family-centered spending? His discretionary income places him in a different economic class than his parents. He has no major fixed expenses and as a result can spend his money as he chooses. This spending experience does not prepare him for the responsibilities of living on his own, or those of supporting a family. As teachers we need to help the teenager become aware of the many demands that will be made upon his dollar, and the alternatives he has to spending. Teachers can aid the teenager in developing some technical skill in planning for fixed expenditures and 71 72 in developing skills or at least learning of other ways he can use his talents in getting what he wants, such as making it himself, rather than buying the article. Although teenagers recognized the influence of their peers upon their spending they were not aware of the influences of television or other advertising media upon their spending. Teenagers in this study indicated that television and magazines and other forms of advertising had little or no influence on their spending. As we are aware of the educational influences the teacher exerts over the student of which he is often unaware, so may he also be unaware of the influence of advertising on his spending. The advertising world conducts many studies on what is most effective in their advertisements in causing the public to purchase their products. It is very possible that the teenager is buying an article because the need for it has been awakened through advertising. As teachers we need to make sure that the teenage buyer is aware of the many influences of advertising, to acquaint him with the dif- ferent types and help him to prepare himself against need- less buying. Many teenagers in this study facilitated their spending through the use of their parents' charge accounts. In some cases they indicated that they paid or helped pay for the articles purchased in this manner, but in other cases the parents paid for the bills. Credit is becoming 73 more of a way of life in this country, and the trend seems to be toward even more use of cards rather than currency in the purchase of articles for daily living. There are many costs involved in the use of credit which teenagers need to be made aware of, as well as some of the dangers of not planning expenditures, but buying on impulse. The use of credit cards can facilitate impulse buying and it is too easy to over-buy the budget. More than half of the teenagers in this study were saving for something specific. Some of these were saving for immediate goals and others were saving for the future. As in other areas of his use of money the teenager needs to become aware of the importance of planning in the achievement of his goals and the establishment of a priority listing in buying what he wants. The SIV, Survey of Interpersonal Values test scores indicated that teen- agers have a strong desire for independence. As teachers we can help them gain this financial independence by helping them to recognize the means for control and in relating their goals and values to the use of their resources 0 Implications for Research Is spending goal-directed, value-directed, or based on whim? The present may be much more important to the teenager than a distant, not too clear future. This might 74 be why few teenagers saved during the questionnaire week, although a majority indicated that they were saving for something. If spending is a result of direction from a value hierarchy then it would be important to know what type of value hierarchy was represented. It may be that no two people spend alike for the same reasons or there may be a common value hierarchy for many people. It is possible that spending may be related to interpersonal values, that is buying something in order to be like, or different from someone else, in order to achieve some type of recognition, or communicate some other feeling. Spending may be on an aesthetic, materialistic, economic type of value system, or be related instead to a standard of living. The buyer might be purchasing on the basis of physiological, social, economic or aesthetic wants or needs. Such a study might be conducted through interviews, where by direct or indirect questioning the reasons for purchases could be delved into more deeply. It was evident that there were many differences in the use of money by socioeconomic class in this study. These differences would be interesting to pursue. Although the teenagers in the Upper socioeconomic class indicated that conformity was not as important to them as it was to other teenagers in this study, these teenagers shOpped with someone more than any of the others. Is this an 75 indication of conformity, or is this behavior an indication that shopping is a social experience for these teenagers? There were the expected differences in the amount of income teenagers received from their parents by socioeconomic class, however more teenagers in the Middle and Lower socioeconomic classes worked outside the home than in the Upper. This may be an indication that the teenager "needs" a certain amount of money to spend in order to be accepted by his peer group, and if this is not forthcoming from his parents he may go out and earn it if his drive to be like the peer group is strong enough. Some differences in what teenagers purchased by socioeconomic class seem to indicate that they need to conform to others. More Lower socioeconomic class teen— agers spend money for clothing than any other group even though this was one of the highest spending areas for all the teenagers. This may be an indication of a need to be like other teenagers through dress. SOURCES CITED Bruner, Karen Jeanette. Teenage Consumers' Spending and Saving Patterns. New York State College of Home Economics. Cornell, Masters, June, 1965. Cateora, Phillip R. An Analysis of the Teenage Market. Bureau of Business Research. The University of Texas. 1963. Cramer, Willa Ruth. Exposure to Three Advertisipg Media Related to Purchases of Junior High School Students. Pennsylvania State University. Master theses, 1964. ' Crandall, Elizabeth Walbert, and Gross, Irma H. Mana e- ment for Modern Families. Appleton—Century-Crofts. New York. 1963. Duvall, Evelyn Mills, Ph. D. Family Development, 2nd ed. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1957. Dunsing, Marilyn. "Money Management Experiences of High School Students." Journal of Home Economics, LII, November, 1960. . "Spending Money of Adolescents." Journal of Home Economics, XLVIII, June, 1956. Evans, Evelyn S. "Motivation Underlying Clothing Selection and Wearing." Journal of Home Economics, LVI, December, 1964. Freud, Anna. "Adolescence" in The Causes of Behavior: Readings in Child DevelOpment and Educational Psychology. Judy P. Rosenblith and Wesley Aléinemith, ed. Boston, Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 19 2. Gordon, Leonard V. "Research Briefs on Survey of Interpersonal Values. Chicago, Science Research Associates, Inc., 1963. (Unpublished) Gilbert, Eugene. Advertising and Marketing to Young People. New York, Printers Ink Books, 1957. 76 77 Hurt, Mary Lee. Teenagers and Their Money. National Education Association, Department of Home Economics, 1961. Kawin, Ethel. Later Childhood and Adolescence. Parent- hood in a Free Nation. Vol. III. New York, The MacMillan Company, 1963. Kotzin, Rhoda H. "Remarks on the Appropriateness and Adequacy of a Conceptual Framework to a Discipline, with Special Reference to Home Management." Conceptual Frameworks: Process of Home Management, Proceedings of a Home Management Conference. Amefiban Home Economics Association. Washington, D.C., 1964. Okerlund, Phyllis. A Comparative Study of the Inde- pendent Decisions Made by Three Groups of Adolescent Boys Relating to Their Age, Socioeconomic Status, and Source and Amount of Personal Income. University of Maryland, Masters, 1965. Oppenheim, Irene Gartner. A Study of the Consumer Role of Young Adolescent Girls in Grades Seven, Eight and Nine in Irvington, New Jersey. New York University, Ph.D. Thesis, 1961. Powell, Kathryn Summers, and Gover, David A. "The Adolescent as a Consumer: Facts and Implications." Marriage and Family Living. August, 1963. Sewalt, Mary Ann Bippes. Use of Credit by Teenage ' Girls in a Matropolitcan Area. Texas Woman's University, Masters, 1966. Paolucci, Beatrice,and Thall, Helen M. Youth and Money. Washington: National Education Association. Department of Home Economics. 1964. Stolz, Lois Meek. "Youth: The Gesell Institute and its Latest Study." in The Causes of Behavior: Readings in Child DevelOpment and Educational Psychology. Judy F. Rosenblith and Wesley Allinsmith, eds. Boston, Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1962. Tengel, Patricia Marie. Teenage Production--Income Earnings and Work Experience in South Euclid-Lyndhurst, Ohio. Cornell University, Masters, 1964. U. S. Bureau of the Census. 1960 Census of the Population, Characteristics of the Population. Vol. 1, part 24. APPENDIX 78 79 Dear Student: You are being asked to contribute to some research on teenagers and their money. Because much of what is written on this subject is not based on research, I am asking your help with this study in hopes that from it we will gain clearer insight into this particular problem. Some of the information asked in the attached ques- tionnaire will apply directly to you, and some will apply to your family. This last section will help me gain a better perspective of your group as a whole. Please read the directions carefully and answer all of the questions. As you answer the questions remember that EE$§.$§ 222 g Eegp. There are no right or wrong answers, and since your name is not requested, your answers will remain anonymous. Thank you for your OOOperation. Sincerely yours, Mary Ellen Davis Graduate Student Michigan State University 80 YOUR USE OF MONEY Please answer the following questions by placing a check ( /) where it is appropriate. On occasion you will note that more detailed information is requested, please fill this in to the best of your knowledge. 1. 2. Age (years) Sex Male Female Do you have a savings account in YOUR OWN name? yes, no If pp, go on to the next question. If yes, a) How much money do you usually have in it? (Please round to the nearest $10) b) Who puts money into it? ____ You do Parents do ____ Others, (Who?) Do you have a checking account in YOUR OWN name? yes, ______no If pg, go on to the next question. If yes, a) How much money do you usually have in it? (Please round to the nearest $10) b) Who puts money into it? You do Parents do Others, (Who) How much money did you get in the last week (Monday- Sunday) (Please give amounts) from: Earned doing Special jobs at home 8. 81 Received from Parents for good grades in odd amounts when asked for as a regular allowance for good behavior other, please eXplain Earned doing part-time jobs outside the home Gifts Other, please eXplain Total Is this more less about the same as you usually receive? If this total is more or less than you usually receive, WHY How much money did you SAVE last week (Monday— Sunday) in: (Please give amounts) (If none, go on to the next question) Savings and Loan Bank Savings bond, Stamps At Home in a special place Gave it to parents Other, please explain Total. Is this more less about the same as you usually save? If this is more or less than you usually save, WHY 82 9. What are you saving for? (Please double check the most important item) Clothing Education Car Special Occasion To get married To please parents Emergencies Other, please explain 10. Please check the places where your parents use credit indicating which type, to the best of your knowledge. Charge Account Installment Lay-Away Department Store Jewelry Store Clothing Store Drug Store Grocery Store Gas Station Dime Store Other (please eXplain) I don't know 11. How do your parents feel about YOUR use of credit? They allow me to use it for all my purchases They require approval for large (amount) pur- chases ONLY They must approve all purchases before made They don't allow me to use credit You don't know 83 12. Do you ever use your parent's charge accounts, credit cards? yes no If pg, go on to the next question. If yep, a) Who pays for the items? ____You do Parents do ____Both b) Can you use your parents' charge accounts, credit cards-— at any time, for any amount. up to a maximum set by your parents. How much?$ only with permission each time. 13. Do you have a charge account, credit card in YOUR OWN name? yes no If pp, go on to the next question. If yep, a) Who pays for the items? ____You do Parents do ____Both b) Can you use them ____at any time, for any amount. up to a maximum set by parents. (How much?) $ only with permission each time. c) Why did you open a carge account or get a credit card? ____Friends had them ____Store advertising ____Sales clerk suggested it ____Parents suggestion Other, please eXplain 14. l5. l6. 17. 84 Do you buy any of the following regularly through a club? Records Books Other, (What?) When you buy do you usually shOp ------- (Please place a ( J) to indicate when you shop for inexpensive items, and an (x) when you are buying expensive items. Alone With both parents With mother With father With girl friend With boy friend Other, please explain Please indicate the MOST, NEXT, and LEAST important item in influencing your choice when shopping for inexpensive items. Boys my age Girls my age Clerks Movies, T.V., Radio Newspapers, Magazines Older boys Older girls Parents Teachers Other, please list Please indicate the MOST, NEXT and LEAST important item in influencing your choice when shopping for an eXpensive item. Boys my age Girls my age Clerks Movies, T.V., Radio Newspapers, Magazines Older boys Older girls Parents Teachers Other, please list 85 18. Please approximate the amount of time you spent shop- ping in each of the following places last week. (Monday-Sunday) Please round to the nearest 15 minutes, or hour. Department Store Jewelry Store Clothing Store Record Store Book Store Grocery Store Drug Store Dime Store Gas Station School Lunchroom Sports events Mail Orders, Catalogs Other, please explain Total 86 Please list under the appropriate headings the articles you bought this past week (Monday-Sunday) by amount. Then indicate whether or not you paid case, or committed yourself or your parents for this amount through charge accounts, credit cards or lay-away. (With a check /) PLEASE NOTE: TOTAL SPENT IN CASH SHOULD BE THE SAME AS THE TOTAL YOU RECEIVED THIS WEEK (see question number 5) IS IT? Article Amount Cash Charge Credit Card Lay- Away Clothing Cosmetics, cologne, shaving cream etc. Dates Gas, car expenses Church, other donations Gifts, family Gifts, friends Golf, bowling, tennis, swim—-etc. Hobbies Records Sports events Magazines Books Movies, plays Sports equipment, events (which) School lunch School supplies Snacks Groceries Telephone calls 87 Article Amount Cash Charge Credit Card Lay- Away Stamps Savings Medical Supplies Gave to parents Gave to brothers, sisters Other TOTALS IS THE TOTAL CASH EXPENDITURE THE SAME AT THE AMOUNT RECEIVED? 19. 20. 21. FAMILY BACKGROUND INFORMATION Which of the following are now living in your home? Father Mother Brothers (How many?) Sisters (How many?) Spouse of Brothers or Sisters Other relatives, who? Other persons 1 What is your father's occupation? Where does he work? What does he do? 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 88 Does your mother work outside the home? ____Full day regularly ____Part day regularly Once in awhile ____Not at all If she does work outside the home, what does she do? What were the last grades your parents completed in school? Father Mother Please check the MAJOR SOURCE of your Family's income. (Check one only) Wages, hourly basis, weekly checks Salary, Commissions, regular income—-monthly, yearly basis Profit fees, royalties Interest, dividends, and savings Odd jobs Welfare Other, please explain Please check your family's approximate income level. ____$0 -- $4,000 _____$4,001 -- 8,000 ____$8,001 -- 12,000 ____Over $12,000 Why is money important to you? (Use the back of paper if you need to.) ANY COMMENTS? PLEASE CHECK---—HAVE YOU ANSWERED ALL THE QUESTIONS? I‘ll "I'IIln' lll..-‘l.l$|inll\l!u. l Ii .1 I 1, . . 1 i a u [‘1‘ n! t 1’,“ It‘ll," {III-"Siltln’l'. [1".Iln’ill (~11!!! \‘1 )0 "filfliflifllflwfiwwgram?