COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.,
March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Junior
Achievement USA®
(JA) and The Allstate Foundation released today surprising findings
from the annual Teens & Personal Finance Survey, which was
expanded this year to include parents for the first time.
The 2015 survey reveals that nearly half of teens (48 percent)
think their parents will help pay for college but only 16 percent
of parents (of teens) report planning to pay for post-secondary
education. Junior Achievement USA
has commissioned the Teens & Personal Finance Survey for the
last 16 years. The 2015 study was conducted online on Junior
Achievement's behalf by Harris Poll in January 2015 among 801 parents of teens ages
13-18 years old and 800 teens ages 13-18 years old.
"Based on this year's findings, it is obvious that parents and
teens need to have honest conversations about money management,
including paying for college," said Jack E.
Kosakowski, president and chief executive officer of Junior
Achievement USA. "Together as a
family, it is important to develop a plan for life after high
school – whatever that looks like for your family. As an
organization that strives to empower all young people to own their
economic success, JA will continue to help open these
channels."
The survey also reinforces that parents serve as teens' most
influential teachers when it comes to money management skills.
Eighty-four percent of teens report looking to their parents for
information on how to manage money, but more than a third (34
percent) of parents says their family's approach to financial
matters is to not discuss finances with their children and "let
kids be kids." Millennial parents, ages 18-34, are the least likely
to be confident about explaining money management to their kids: 60
percent report feeling confident, while 76 percent of parents ages
35-44 and 79 percent of parents ages 45-54 report feeling the
same.
"This year's survey clearly shows parents play a critical role
in helping their kids understand how to manage money and become
financially savvy," said Jim
Haskins, executive vice president, Allstate, and board
member of Junior Achievement of Chicago. "Talking with our kids about money
management at an early age prepares them to more confidently handle
financial decisions in the future."
As with last year's survey, differences between boys and girls
continue to come to light. When parents talk to their kids about
money, it appears some are leaving girls out of the conversation
more frequently. Teen girls are more likely than boys to say their
parents don't talk to them enough about money management (40
percent to 24 percent) and paying for college (34 percent to 23
percent). When asked about their future earning power at their
first "real" job, 24 percent of teen girls think they will make
$15,000 or less, while only 16
percent of boys feel the same. Moms also are significantly more
likely than dads to say their child will earn $15,000 or less (26 percent to 17 percent).
Other key findings from the survey include:
- Interest in community college is on the rise. When asked to
consider the rising cost of college, a larger number of teens in
2015 are considering attending a local community college instead of
another college or university: 22 percent in 2014 rose to 29
percent in 2015.
- The gender gap continues in personal finance lessons from
parents. Teen boys are more likely than teen girls to report that
their parents help them keep track of money (31 percent to 20
percent). Teen boys also are more likely than teen girls to report
they learned to take care of money from parents (88 percent to 80
percent).
- The number of teens who think their parents don't spend enough
time talking to them about managing money significantly rose (21
percent in 2014 to 32 percent in 2015).
Since 2005, Junior Achievement and The Allstate Foundation have
partnered to provide students with valuable information about
personal finance in the classroom and help them apply it in their
lives. The JA Economics for Success®
program, created in partnership with The Allstate Foundation, has
helped more than 1.4 million students set personal goals about
money and make wise financial choices. The program also helps
empower students to develop, plan and set goals to help protect
them from unexpected financial pitfalls.
An executive summary of the 2015 Junior Achievement USA/Allstate Foundation Teens & Personal
Finance Survey is available at www.ja.org.
Methodology
This survey was conducted
online within the United States by
Harris Poll on behalf of Junior Achievement between January 12-30, 2015, among 801 U.S. adults aged
18 or older, who are the parents of teens aged 13-18 and 800 teens
aged 13-18. Each group had an oversample of 200 Hispanics. The 2014
study was conducted online within the
United States by Harris Poll and included 712 teens aged
13-18. Figures for age, race/ethnicity, education, region, and
household income were weighted for parents where necessary to bring
them into line with their actual proportions in the population. For
teens, figures for age, gender, race, parent's education, region,
and school location were weighted. Propensity score weighting was
also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be
online.
About Junior Achievement USA® (JA)
Junior
Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving
young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their
economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic
and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and
community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences
that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge
and skills in financial literacy, work readiness and
entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches 4.5 million students per year
in 115 markets across the United
States, with an additional 5.8 million students served by
operations in 120 other countries worldwide. Visit
www.ja.org for more information.
About The Allstate Foundation
Established in 1952,
The Allstate Foundation is an independent, charitable organization
made possible by subsidiaries of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:
ALL). Through partnerships with nonprofit organizations across the
country, The Allstate Foundation brings the relationships,
reputation and resources of Allstate to support innovative and
lasting solutions that enhance people's well-being and prosperity.
With a focus on building financial independence for domestic
violence survivors, empowering youth and celebrating the charitable
community involvement of Allstate agency owners and employees, The
Allstate Foundation works to bring out the good in people's lives.
For more information, visit www.AllstateFoundation.org.
Video - http://youtu.be/ItTXOcWeyy4
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150325/194374-INFO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/survey-reveals-disconnect-between-teens-and-parents-views-on-paying-for-college-and-other-personal-finance-topics-300055873.html
SOURCE Junior Achievement USA