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Poll: Gas Surpasses Clothes as Number One Teen Credit Card Expense

Rising gas prices may cause teens to fill up on debt

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 19, 2008 – Rising prices at the pump have caught up with America’s teens, and teens appear to be filling up on debt to pay for gas. A new poll from Junior Achievement and The Allstate Foundation shows that nearly 70 percent of teens (68.6%) are using credit cards to buy gas, that’s up from 51.9 percent in 2007 and 45.9 percent in 2006. Gas is now the top item teens buy with credit cards, surpassing “clothes,” which had led the list in previous years.

“It is apparent from these poll results that rising gas prices are impacting teens as much as they are their parents,” said Jack Kosakowski, president of Junior Achievement USA. “The question is, are the teens paying off these cards, or are they passing the debt on to their parents? This creates a situation where parents should talk to their kids about the proper use of credit.”

The 2008 poll found an increase in the number of teens who use a credit card - 10.4 percent this year versus 8.5 percent in 2007. Also, the number of teens reporting their credit card bill is paid by parents increased, from 11 percent last year, to 13 percent this year—indicating that many teens are not learning for themselves the importance of paying bills on-time, and other sound financial practices.

This is the ninth time the Junior Achievement poll on Teens and Personal Finance has been conducted, and 712 teens participated in this year’s Poll. The survey was administered in February and March of 2008.

About Junior Achievement® (JA)
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school programs for students which focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. Today, 139 individual area operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional 4.3 million students served by operations in 118 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.

About The Allstate Foundation
Established in 1952, The Allstate Foundation is an independent, charitable organization made possible by subsidiaries of The Allstate Corporation. The Allstate Foundation partners with non-profit organizations on community initiatives that promote “safe and vital communities,” “tolerance, inclusion, and diversity” and “economic empowerment.” Teen driving and empowering victims of domestic violence have been priorities for the Foundation since 2005.

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