Demographics: Who are teens?

Teens are one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population. Between 1990 and 2000, teens grew at the rate of 16.6% to reach an estimated 32 million. It is projected that teens will grow at an estimated cumulative growth rate of 6.8% and will reach 34.6 million by 2006. Teens, typically defined as those ages 12-19, can be segmented into 3 categories:

12-to 14-year-olds:

There are 12.1 million teens in the 12- to 14-year-old age group. The population of these younger teens experienced the highest growth rate between 1990 and 2000 (21.3%), and they now comprise 37.5% of the teen population. Most teens in this age group can be found in the 7th through 9th grades, and at this stage of their lives school remains their major focus. A defining characteristic of teens in the 12- to 14-year-old age group is that they can be highly aspirational in their thinking and way of life, with many of them appearing to be beyond their chronological years in terms of attitudes and behavior.

While allowances and gifts represent their most significant source of income, more than half of younger teens have paying jobs during the school year and in the summer months that enable them to earn a total of $9.8 billion annually. Their parents spend an estimated $50.8 billion to provide them with food, clothing, personal-care products, entertainment, and reading materials.

15-to 17-year-olds:

At the core of the teen market are 12 million 15- to 17-year-olds, most of whom are in high school. This age group is expected to register the highest population growth between 2001 and 2006. Although a substantial number of teens in the 15- to 17-year-old age group engage in risk behaviors such as smoking and using alcohol and drugs, U.S. government studies indicate that their participation in these activities is on a downward trend.

More than one-quarter of these teens have jobs during the school year and approximately one-third work during the summer months. Average weekly earnings of employed 15- to 17-year-olds range between $73 and $121 during the school year and $119 to $166 during the summer months, with aggregate earnings totaling $18.1 billion. Although teens in this age group are beginning to exercise considerable economic independence and consumer autonomy, their parents still spend an estimated $49.1 billion on their need for food, clothing, personal-care products, entertainment, and reading materials.

18-and 19-year-olds:

As teens approach the age of 18, their lives begin to change radically. For many of the approximately 8.3 million 18- and 19-year-olds, school is no longer the centerpiece of their lives; only two-thirds of 18-year-olds and barely half of 19-year olds are enrolled in school. Moreover, nearly one out of five of these older teens are living on their own, and more than 500,000 of them are married. More than 60% of teens in this age group, who are not in school, are employed on either a part-time or full-time basis, while around two out of five who are in college are employed. Packaged Facts estimates that approximately 2.2 million of these older teens are employed on a full-time basis and have average annual earnings of nearly $21,000. Aggregate annual earnings of all 18- and 19-year-olds are estimated at $57.8 billion.

[1] This information is either based on, or, in part verbatim, from The U.S. Teens Market: Understanding the Changing Lifestyles and Trends of 12- to 19- year Olds, 5th Edition, Published by Packaged Fact, August 2002.