Junior Achievement Summer Survey Reveals Teens’ Opinions on Debt-Free College and Plans for the Future
Washington, DC– A new survey of teens conducted for Junior Achievement by the research firm ENGINE Insights shows that two-thirds of 16- and 17-year-olds (68%) plan to work this summer. Nearly the same percentage of teens in that age group (69%) who planned to work in the summer of 2019, based on a similar survey taken pre-pandemic. The 2021 survey of 1,002 13- to 17-year-olds was conducted by ENGINE Insights from May 6 through 13, 2021. The survey was not conducted in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Other findings from the survey include:
The top summer jobs teens expect to work are in retail (26%) and restaurants (26%), followed by landscaping/lawn-mowing and other outdoors work (19%), and babysitting/childcare (13%).
Nearly all teens surveyed (90%) said that they plan to attend college after high school.
Of those planning to attend college after high school, a quarter (27%) expect to take out student loans, while nearly the same percentage (28%) believe they will find some other way to pay for college. Nearly half (45%) are “not sure” if they will need to take out student loans or not.
Two-thirds (68%) of all teens say they support “debt-free college” – or college that is free for all attendees. However, that percentage drops to only a third (32%) if it requires higher taxes to pay for it.
Methodology
This Youth CARAVAN survey was conducted by ENGINE INSIGHTS among a sample of 1,002 13-17-year-olds. This survey was live on May 6-13, 2021.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have volunteered to participate in online surveys and polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to multiple sources of error, including, but not limited to sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. It is nationally representative with set quotas based on census data. The 1,002 completes are all who qualified and completed based on the demographic quota requirements. The MoE is +/- 3.1%.
About Junior Achievement of Greater Washington
Junior Achievement of Greater Washington is a non-profit organization that is changing the game for D.C. Metro area youth with relevant experiential education in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. We bring together school systems, business leaders and trained mentor volunteers to provide equal access to the tools, people and experiences all youth need to be 100% prepared for real life in the real world. That means students gain what matters most: control over their own lives, futures and careers. To learn more, visit myJA.org.
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