Capital One’s Annual Back-to-School Shopping Survey Finds That More Parents Think They Are Having the (Money) Talk, Teens A...
22 July 2013 - 11:04PM
Business Wire
Six out of ten consumers say economic concerns will impact their
back-to-school shopping spending this year, but as parents and
teens look to pinch their pennies this year many don’t see
eye-to-eye on shopping priorities and plans, found Capital One's
13th Annual Back-to-School Shopping Survey of parents and
teens.
- Style vs. price showdown: Nearly
half (47%) of parents surveyed consider price to be the most
important factor when making a back-to-school purchase followed by
quality (36%), but nearly half (46%) of teens said style and
appearance top their priority list when making a back-to-school
purchase and 19 percent of teens believe brand name is the most
important factor to consider when making purchases. Only 22 percent
of teens surveyed consider price a top priority, and even fewer
(10%) see quality as their biggest concern.
- Debate over department store vs.
discount retailer: Forty percent of parents said they plan to
do the majority of their shopping at discount retailers and 29
percent expect to shop in department stores. For teens those
numbers flip, with 47 percent of teens expecting to do the most of
their shopping at department stores and 29 percent expecting to do
the majority of shopping at discount retailers.
- Technology disconnect: This
year, clothing tops the shopping list for the majority of parents
and teens, followed by traditional school supplies like backpacks,
notebooks, pens and pencils. However, 21 percent of teens
identified cell phones and smart phones, electronic gadgets, and
computers as “must have” items on their lists, while only 4 percent
of parents identified those items as top shopping priorities.
Overall, 69 percent of parents said they believe they are doing
enough to teach their kids about personal finance and money
management and 70 percent say they discussed back-to-school
shopping and wants vs. needs with their child, yet less than half
of teens (47%) say they have worked with their parents to develop a
budget for spending and saving their money.
“Back-to-school shopping season is a great opportunity for
parents to help influence money management habits in their children
that can last a lifetime, as we know our childhood experiences
shape our adult attitudes about money,” said Shelley Solheim,
Director, Financial Education, Capital One Financial Corporation.
“Many parents say they’re talking with kids about important
concepts like wants vs. needs this shopping season – which is great
news -- but parents can further reinforce those practices by
building a shopping budget with teens, discussing priorities and
trade-offs, and comparison shopping together to get the best
deals.”
About half of parents (52%) say they will spend about the same
amount as last year, while 25 percent expect to pay more and 19
percent expect to pay less than last year. More than 1 in 5 parents
(21%) say they spend more on back-to-school supplies each year than
they are saving for college.
- Twenty-one percent of parents plan to
pay between $150 and $200 per child
- Twenty-four percent of parents plan to
spend more than $200 per child
- About a third (32%) plan to spend $100
or less
Teens Lack Practical Money Management Experience
Although teens report high levels of confidence in their money
management skills – 71 percent gave themselves a grade of “A” or
“B” for their current knowledge of financial responsibility – teens
have limited practical money management experience. Fewer than half
of teens have worked with their parents to develop a budget for
spending and saving – even though 62 percent of teens report
receiving an allowance, and 63 percent of those who do get an
allowance receive between $10 and $50 each month.
Teens also lack an array of other money management
experiences:
- Sixty-five percent of teens do not plan
to help pay for their back-to-school shopping
- Half (50%) of teens say they spend
between $5 and $20 each week
- Only 27 percent of teens have a summer
job
- 9 out of 10 teens say they are not
involved in paying household bills or budgeting
- Eighty-three percent of teens plan to
attend college, but 51 percent are not saving money to help pay for
college
Teaching Teens Personal Finance Skills
Capital One offers the following tips to help parents take
advantage of the back-to-school shopping season and other
opportunities to talk to their teens about money management
skills:
- Make back-to-school shopping a
family affair. Sit down together and make a list of what your
teen already has, what they need and how much you can spend.
- Do your homework. Make
back-to-school shopping something you do together and use it as an
opportunity to teach your teen how to comparison shop. You can also
encourage your teen to look at prices online to see how they fit
with their budget before you head to the store.
- Crunch numbers together – establish
a budget. Consider having your teen contribute money to
purchasing school supplies and other necessities throughout the
year. Discuss how much they may contribute and work it into your
budget. Once you set a budget, stick to it.
- Help set goals and steps to achieve
them. The next time your teen gets a windfall—from a gift,
allowance or part-time job—ask them if they have a plan for their
money. If not, talk about things they might want to save for and
how they can create their own budget.
- Participate in the day-to-day.
Teach your kids how to write checks, balance a budget and the
importance of paying bills on time the next time you pay monthly
bills. This gives teens an idea of how much utilities and other
necessities, like auto insurance, will cost them as adults.
For more free tips and tools to talk with your kids about money,
visit CapitalOne.com/financial-education.
Survey Methodology
For Capital One’s annual Back-to-School survey, Braun Research
was engaged to conduct 1,064 interviews with 564 parents of
teenagers aged 11-17 and 500 teenagers, aged 11-17 across the
United States. Surveys were conducted by telephone from July
10, 2013, through July 15, 2013. The margin of error for the
parents at 95% is plus or minus 4.13%. For the teens, the
margin of error at 95% is plus or minus 4.38%. Interviews were
monitored at random. Sampling for this study was conducted across
the United States using a national probability sample of all
exchanges and area codes of households with someone aged 11-17
living there. All interviews were conducted using a
computer-assisted telephone interviewing system. Statistical
weights were designed from United States Census Bureau
statistics.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is
a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include
Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $209.9
billion in deposits and $296.5 billion in total assets as of June
30, 2013. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a
broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers,
small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of
channels. Capital One, N.A. has more than 900 branch locations
primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company,
Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
"COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
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