Don't Let My Age Fool You!




‘If we can afford to spend, why not?’

Sat, Dec 13, 2008
The Straits Times

By Lim Pow Hong & Seow Kai Lun

SINGAPORE’S school-going children seem unaware of terms such as ‘recession’ or ‘economic downturn’.

To the average teenager, a budget meal costs $8 at a fast-food outlet and saving means putting aside money for a ‘cool’ $248 iPod nano. When they run out of cash, they just ask their parents for more.

The Straits Times polled 100 students - aged 13 to 19 - who received pocket money. Their responses showed most of them did not think the current recession here would affect their spending habits or that of their families.

The students who were polled received an average weekly allowance of $20 to $30 - in addition to extra funds for transport and mobile phone bills.

Almost 60 of those surveyed said they spent three quarters or more of their allowance. When their cash ran out, they asked for more, with as many as 86 per cent thinking that this was acceptable.

Xavier Ong, 14, gets $100 a week in addition to his transport and mobile phone expenses. However, he said that when he needs more money, he asks his parents.

Tiffany Li, 15, eats out at least four times a week, spending $6 to $8 on each meal. She dines at cafes and fast-food outlets rather than at school and eats only dinner at home because, as she puts it: ‘If we can afford it, why not?’

Dr Brian Lim, head of communication at SIM University, who does research on youth social behaviour and popular culture, said many young people ’spend money like there is no tomorrow’.

He came to this conclusion after organising a focus group discussion with 30 teenagers aged 18 and 19 in early January.

Click here to see full article

Other Related Articles:

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Reddit
  • TwitThis
Email to your friends Email to your friends

Back to top


Back to previous page

0 Responses to “‘If we can afford to spend, why not?’”


  1. No Comments

Leave a Reply



Back to top



About MoneyTree

The current high credit card debt amongst young adults and the high percentage of retirees who are unable to meet their daily expenses, have made Governments across the region more aware of the need to educate the young on matters pertaining to Financial Management and Retirement Planning These factors provide for an excellent environment in which to launch the Money Tree programme, as a ready market is available.

 

MoneyTree is established to provide Financial & Entrepreneurship skills and knowledge to youths aged 6 to 26 , which would be required to build a career or business, as well as plan for their financial freedom. It has been created to fill the void left by the education system and school curriculum and to explore the opportunities available worldwide to further the dissemination and propagation of high-quality e-learning programmes utilising state of the art technology, and to groom the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Recent Highlights:


Categories: