After two uncertain, often stressful years, high school students are worried about their financial futures, prompting more than half of teens to say they feel unprepared to finance their futures, according to new research from Junior Achievement and Citizens.
The findings of the fifth annual JA Teens & Personal Finance Survey indicate wide-ranging concern among teens regarding financial anxiety and the future, highlighting the need for additional resources to assist them in making financial decisions that impact them over the long term.
According to the survey, more than two-thirds of teens (69 percent) say that rising education costs have affected their plans for additional education after high school. While nearly a third of teens (31 percent) don’t expect their plans to be impacted, almost as many (28 percent) say they are now only considering in-state schools, while around a fifth (22 percent) plan to live at home and commute to college, and one in 10 are considering getting a two-year degree versus a four-year degree.
Teens said some of these concerns could be addressed with a better understanding of how student loans work (39 percent), knowing how education ties to jobs (38 percent) or having access to lower-cost alternatives (32 percent). A significant portion of respondents (41 percent) said they have had no financial literacy classes in school, further highlighting the need for educational resources that would address these concerns.
“Based on these survey results, it appears that teens are becoming more aware of the costs associated with higher education and are being more selective in the way they pursue that education,” said Jack E. Kosakowski, CEO of Junior Achievement USA. “This may be the beginning of a positive trend, but it’s essential that teens have the information they need to make informed choices about higher education.”
• 62 percent of teens use mobile or online applications to assist with money management, compared to 48 percent from a similar survey in 2019.
• 38 percent of teens say cash is still their preferred payment method, compared to 2 percent who prefer apps.
• 57 percent of teens say their parents use cash when giving them money, down from 71 percent in 2019, while 20 percent say their parents use apps, compared to 9 percent in 2019.
• There has been a decline in the use of traditional financial tools by teens, specifically debit cards (59 percent today vs. 62 percent in 2019), credit cards (24 percent today vs. 30 percent in 2019), and checkbooks (9 percent today vs. 18 percent in 2019), over the same period.
