<nettime> Culture of consumption sends young bankrupt

[ben moretti <bmoretti@chariot.net.au>]

[...and that is not just morally bankrupt./ b]


http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/qld/metqld-20aug2002-1.htm

Culture of consumption sends young bankrupt

Statistics released by the Insolvency and Trustee Service of Australia
(ITSA) show a worrying trend where young people are being sent bankrupt by
marketing strategies aimed directly at them.

Recent ITSA figures show of the 6,500 Queenslanders declared bankrupt in
the 2001-2002 financial year, about 760 (11 per cent) are aged under 25.

The Queensland Government Office of Fair Trading (OFT) says the pressures
of a "must have" world are creating young bankrupts.

OFT spokeswoman Dorothy Woods says irresponsible spending habits and poor
financial education are a major concern for young people.

"The figures are about 6,500 total bankruptcies in the 2000-2001 year and
of those about 11 per cent were actually aged 25 years and under," Ms
Woods said.


"The mobile phones for example are 'must-have' items, credit cards, store
cards, personal loans, are also huge issues for our young people because
they usually want to go out and add to their independence with a motor
vehicle," she said.


"I think in fairness to our young, peer pressure doesn't necessarily stop
when you attain 25 years of age.

"We're all somewhat influenced by what we see and hear others doing and
then the multi-million dollar advertising campaigns tend to build on
that," she said.





-- 
ben moretti 
mailto:bmoretti@chariot.net.au
http://www.chariot.net.au/~bmoretti

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