Youth Indicators 1996 / Indicator 43

Indicator 43. Spending Patterns of High School Seniors

Spending patterns of employed high school seniors, by sex, race, and college plans: 1981, 1991, and 1992

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                         |        |         |       Percent of 1992 seniors
                         |        |         |-------------------------------------------------------
         Type of         |Percent |Percent  |       |     Sex     |      Race     |           Not
       expense and       |   of   |   of    |       |-------------|---------------|Planning planning
       portion of        |  1981  |  1991   | Total |      |      |       |       |to go to to go to
     earnings spent      |seniors | seniors |       | Male |Female| White | Black | 4-year   4-year
                         |        |         |       |      |      |       |       |college  college
-------------------------|--------|---------|-------|------|------|-------|-------|-----------------

   Savings for education
None or only a little ...    70.2      72.4    73.0   75.7   70.4    72.5    73.7     69.1     84.8
Some ....................    12.4      10.6    11.1   10.1   11.8    11.7     9.3     12.5      6.7
About half ..............     6.4       7.7     6.3    5.1    7.4     6.0     7.2      6.8      4.7
Most ....................     6.4       4.5     5.5    4.8    6.4     5.7     6.4      6.5      2.4
All or almost all .......     4.6       4.9     4.2    4.4    4.1     4.2     3.4      5.1      1.4

   Car expenses
None or only a little ...    62.4        57    59.9   54.6   65.0    56.8    76.5     63.5     49.0
Some ....................    14.7      16.1    15.4   17.9   13.1    16.3    12.2     14.0     19.3
About half ..............    11.1        11    10.5   12.6    8.4    11.1     4.8     10.0     11.7
Most ....................     6.6         9     8.0    7.9    8.0     9.5     3.6      7.3     10.7
All or almost all .......     5.3       6.9     6.1    6.9    5.5     6.3     2.9      5.0      9.4

   Long-range savings
None or only a little ...    70.7      71.2    72.0   72.8   71.5    71.4    73.1     71.8     73.3
Some ....................    13.4      15.3    13.3   13.2   13.5    13.4    13.8     13.8     11.1
About half ..............     7.0       5.9     6.1    6.2    5.8     6.7     4.9      5.7      7.7
Most ....................     4.3       4.2     4.4    4.5    4.1     4.6     3.8      4.4      4.9
All or almost all .......     4.6       3.4     4.2    3.3    5.1     3.9     4.5      4.4      3.0

   Personal items
None or only a little ...    24.6      23.1    25.9   26.6   24.3    24.6    28.7     25.2     28.6
Some ....................    19.1      20.3    18.3   17.6   19.1    19.2    13.4     18.9     16.3
About half ..............    17.1      16.5    16.7   19.5   14.4    17.3    11.1     16.9     16.3
Most ....................    16.8      16.5    15.6   15.5   15.6    16.4    14.3     15.9     14.7
All or almost all .......    22.4      23.5    23.5   20.7   26.6    22.5    32.6     23.1     24.1

   Family expenses
None or only a little ...    82.0      80.7    80.3   82.5   78.8    86.4    65.2     83.0     72.5
Some ....................     9.7       8.4     9.9    9.7    9.2     7.2    17.3      8.7     13.0
About half ..............     3.6       4.9     4.0    3.0    4.9     2.6     5.5      3.5      5.3
Most ....................     2.0       2.4     2.0    1.7    2.3     1.3     3.9      1.9      2.4
All or almost all .......     2.8       3.6     3.9    3.1    4.8     2.5     8.2      2.9      6.8
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SOURCE: University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Monitoring the Future, 1981, 1991 and 1992.

Indicator chart and text.

[Indicator 42. Employment of 16- and 17-Year-Old Students] [Indicator 44. Spending of Young Adults]