If it's their own money they are spending, the answer is probably yes, but if it's not money they earned....

Answer: 63%

Questions:

• Are you able to make your own spending decisions?
  • If yes, when did you get this independence?
  • If not, who is involved in this process?
• When do you think most young people are ready to make their own decisions about spending money?
• What behaviors do parents/guardians look for when giving their child independent decision-making power over spending money?
  

Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (NCES):

When comparing the percentage of male versus female students, we found that a lower percentage of female students than of male students agreed or strongly agreed that young people should make their own spending decisions (59 vs. 66 percent). This pattern held even after taking into account students’ gender, race/ethnicity, immigration status, and socioeconomic status as well as school poverty and location.

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This recent FinCap Friday will help students have better money conversations with their families: Family Finance Talk

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Students get to make their own spending decisions with NGPF's PAYBACK game which helps them navigate to and through college. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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