Just shopping?

Abstract

There is a lot of concern about young people and shopping. Sometimes it is even argued that all young people do is shop and spend money while neglecting school and doing little else. This article takes a closer look at shopping and what characterizes different shoppers. Our analysis indicates that shopping is part of everyday life for most young people, that it is one of many activities that young people are involved in. Age is of little importance when we look at shopping frequency, but it has a stronger impact when it comes to the money spent. Our study shows that shopping is a gendered activity. Girls are the big shoppers, but the boys are closing in. We also find that money spent on clothes increases with shopping frequency but whether you are oriented towards friends or home and family has an impact on the amount of money spent on clothes.The data material is drawn from the rather comprehensive survey ‘Young in Norway 2002’ collected by NOVA, Norwegian Social Research. Approximately 12,000 pupils were included in the survey; 6,048 respondents in Norwegian secondary school (ages 13–15) and 5,880 in high school (ages 16–19).