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Top Trends for 2003
In a timely article with the title above, American Demographics has pointed to trends over the past 10 years that will affect those in firms seeking to provide credit to consumers for housing, automobiles, and other purchases. The changes that are most likely to affect the markets for consumer and mortgage credit are listed below.
- Widening geographic gaps. The table below shows that, over the past decade, the number of households has increased most in the South (19.5 percent) and West (18.5 percent). In sharp contrast, the number of households rose only 7.5 percent in the Northeast, about half the rate for the nation.
| Region | % of Households | % of HH Changes: '90-'00 | Median Age |
Non-Hispanic Whites as % of all Persons |
| Northeast | 19.2 | +7.5 | 36.8 | 73.4 |
| Midwest | 23.5 | +10.8 | 35.6 | 81.4 |
| South | 36.0 | +19.5 | 35.3 | 65.8 |
| West | 21.3 | +18.5 | 33.8 | 58.4 |
| All states | 100.0 | +14.7 | 35.3 | 69.1 |
Source: American Demographics, December 2002.
- Generation Y. Generation Y followed the baby boomers and includes those born between 1977 and 1994. Whereas there are still 78 million baby boomers, there are 73 million in Generation Y. Presently, they are aged 8-25 and comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population. However, the teenage members of Gen Y represent only 7 percent of the U.S. population. Yet, they account for 21 percent of total spending. (Parents with offspring in this age group will not be surprised.) Marketing to this group will be a challenge. Thirty-eight percent of its members are nonwhite versus 27 percent of the baby boomers. Blacks account for 15 percent of Gen Y and Hispanics 14 percent.