The next generation of financial consumers may be moving home after graduating from college, according to a new survey examining financial literacy among teenagers.
According to a study conducted by Junior Achievement USA and AIG, the “2018 Junior Achievement Teens & Personal Finance Survey,” only half of all teens view gaining financial independence from their parents as a goal for the future, as opposed to 75 percent of teens that see graduating college as the goal.
Approximately 1,000 teens between the ages of 13 and 18 participated in the survey, in which researchers sought to better understand how this generation thinks about their personal finance and planning for their financial future.
“Millennials have sometimes been referred to as ‘the Boomerang Generation’ because during the economic recovery many moved back home with their parents after college due to a weak job market and student loan debt,” said Jack Kosakowski, president and CEO of Junior Achievement USA, in a statement.
While the majority of teens view graduating from college as their top financial goal for the future, only half indicated that creating a savings plan was a financial goal. Thirty-seven percent felt they should be able to afford international travel. One-third of the Gen Z participants said that starting their own business was a goal, while only 29 percent said that retiring before age 65 was.
According to a 2015 U.S. Census Bureau report, The Changing Economics and Demographics of Young Adulthood, about 24 million 18- to 34-year-olds lived in their parents’ home, and one in four of those young people did not attend school or go to work.
“This survey may be showing that today’s teens, Generation Z, could be seeing that as a situation they will encounter down the road,” Kosakowski added.
Fifty-four percent of teens surveyed said paying for college was the top concern for the future, and finding a fulfilling and well-paying job was also a top concern for 52 percent of them. Almost half said that being able to afford a home was a future financial goal.
The girls in the survey were more concerned than the boys.
The participants were also concerned about not having enough skills to manage money and not having savings for an emergency, a problem for 41 to 42 percent of them.