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Americans spend more money than anyone else on the planet. Every day, the average U.S. household spends almost $90 on a vast array of goods and services. This may not […]

Most Americans claim middle-class status, although in reality, income growth is uneven. The trends that have caused a middle-class squeeze won't turn around. But upcoming demographic shifts may get real […]

You can't navigate in a hightech world without a good education, and education is expensive. People spend years of their lives and thousands of dollars to get a college degree. […]

Byline: PETER FRANCESE The marketing community, already dealing with a slumping economy and an increasingly consumer-controlled media marketplace, must confront another new reality: The face of the American consumer is [...]

Byline: Peter Francese Homeownership has become not just the American dream, but almost a birthright. Homeowners in the United States are on track to hit a record high of 70 […]

Byline: Peter Francese The value Americans place on intellectual achievement is open to question these days, particularly as we argue over the amount of resources the nation's schools need to […]

Byline: Peter Francese America has its movers and shakers, and then again, it has plenty of just plain movers. When you picture the future trends in moving, it's logical to […]

Byline: Peter Francese Talk about a contradiction in consumer sentiment! Despite the fragility of the economy, the lack of any significant job or income growth, and a blizzard of news […]

Byline: Peter Francese Generation X deserves sympathy - Baby Boomers are demographics' original tough act to follow. The Boomer generation is so big and self-absorbed that it sucks the air […]

Byline: Peter Francese Since the Massachusetts Supreme Court gave its opinion last November on who can get married, and a number of politicians have proposed a constitutional amendment to "defend" […]

Byline: Peter Francese Thirtysomethings Sally and Joe K., who were married about a year and a half ago, recently bought their first house, a modest bungalow in a D.C. suburb. […]

Byline: PETER FRANCESE Traditional U.S. food retailers are in a classic squeeze. As Wal-Mart devours customers at the low end of the price spectrum, specialty food retailers are luring away […]

Byline: Peter Francese In what may seem like a contradiction, residential mobility is at a record low but Americans are away from home more than ever before. As Boomers age […]

Byline: Peter Francese Newspaper publishers have heard rumors of their imminent demise again and again. It's always about new media rising up and devouring the good old broadsheet: first radio, […]

Byline: Peter Francese Age and income help determine what households buy. It is common knowledge that Baby Boomers will fill the 55- to 74-year-old age category during the next few […]

Byline: Peter Francese When any 16-year-old with a high-speed Internet connection and a CD burner can make and distribute his or her own Compact Discs, the $14 billion a year […]

Byline: Peter Francese Suppose we look at the 50 states as though each were a consumer product company. We might consider investing in a state by opening stores there, expanding […]

Byline: Peter Francese A cruise to Antarctica with a wildlife specialist. An expedition to Incan ruins led by an archaeologist. A tour of Florence guided by a medieval historian. The […]

Byline: Peter Francese With Martha Stewart's launch of her own branded gardening collection, there can be little doubt: the plant business is flourishing. Gardening has become the second most popular […]

When I was a teenager, my father, who quit school when he was 12, told me and my siblings that he was using all his savings to pay for our [...]

Have you thought about buying a flat-panel HDTV recently? If so, perhaps you experienced what we call 'buyer hesitation' because you weren't sure if the price of those cool new [...]

New Hampshire is a small state, but it has a number of special characteristics that make its housing market look and behave differently from other states. Most importantly it ranks [...]

Heading Into The 1990s Demographic trends are profoundly changing the philanthropic landscape. Fund raisers will have to know what they are and how to adjust to survive. Customers are what [...]

Diversity continues to define the American "family," even as baby boomers create a return to the past. By the middle of March, the U.S. will have 100 million households, according […]

First it was '60 Minutes.' Now it's the front page, top of the fold, of The New York Times (June 8, 2007: 'Home Sellers Do Better on Their Own in [...]

My heart goes out to anyone trying to sell a home when the wind chill is below zero. But tough New Hampshire Realtors persevered to sell over 1,400 homes and [...]

November may have seemed warmer than usual in New Hampshire, but there's a deep chill in real estate. Three of my neighbors perfectly illustrate how the sales statistics, unpleasant as [...]

The prospect of aging boomers brings concern because only few of them have sufficient savings or the investments for their retirement plans. Significant portion of aging boomers will thus head to cut expenditure and sell some assets thereby posing danger to the economy.

Incoming college freshman believed themselves to be more academically skilled in 1996 than in 1971 despite real academic shortcomings during their first year in college, according to a 1996 UCLA Higher Education Research Institute. The survey suggests that the increased and unrealistic self-confidence was created by grade inflation. This trend is likely to end up with disappointed graduates who discover that employers are more demanding than academic institutions., For all the fretting about self-esteem that marked their high school years, today's college sophmores feel pretty good about themselves. Nearly 58 percent of last year's incoming freshmen rated themselves [...]

Gas grill sales finally overtook sales of charcoal grills in 1995, 5.5 million to 5.3 million units, respectively, and this change in outdoor cooking habits has had several secondary effects on related industries. The ease of gas grilling has created more interest in barbecuing among women, which has led to a sudden increase in sales of related cookbooks. Chicken, fish, and vegetables have grown in popularity, while steak and frankfurters have fallen., Americans are deserting charcoal grills in favor of the gas-powered version--and its changing the way they barbecue Not long ago, Americans turned the summer suppertime air blue, either with the [...]

The youngest households, which are populated by individuals under 25 years of age, will increase by 2% between 1998 and 2001. These households spend less because they are poorer but they pay 42% of all rents and 45% of all child care costs. If they have no increase in household spending between 1998 and 2001, there could be a decrease in consumer spending of a mere $12.3 billion., Fewer in number and tighter of st, the baby bust moves into the household-formation years Young adults are always of interest, particularly as fresh consuming units. We assume they are [...]

The number of seasonal travelers who live in one state and travel to another for a period of several months is increasing, according to surveys. The aging baby boomer population is one factor, although many of them have delayed childbearing or include two full-time wage earners, making it more difficult to travel. The 55-to 64-year old age group is expected to increase 74% as the baby boomers age, according to the Census Bureau., We could use more data about 'snowbirds' -- Americans who trek south for the winter months In Maine they are called 'summer people.' In Florida, Arizona, or on the Gulf [...]

Providers of Personal Communication Services (PCS), a form of wireless local and long-distance phone service, will risk the billions of dollars of their initial investment unless they devise effective marketing campaigns. Household customers will keep their existing service without a clear, understandable reason to switch. Touting PCS as a better substitute for cordless phones could be effective., Confused about your telephone service options? Hold on--it's going to get worse Millions of consumers are already bewildered by the blizzard of offers for long-distance service. Soon they will receive [...]

The Census Bureau's new household projections are hot off the presses at the Government Printing Office. These include the bureau's first effort to forecast the number of Americans who live […]