Consumerism, American Style

Facts about America's Favorite Pastime

America likes to shop, and we spend a lot of time doing it. Every year Americans spend trillions of dollars on clothing, electronics, homes and  household items, cars and a billion other products. It’s hard to believe the staggering amounts being spent. Here are some other mind blowing facts about the USA’s consumer habits. But don't think Americans are alone in this, as they are just an example of how we've all become consumers instead of citizens.

1. In 1930, the average American woman owned 9 outfits. Nowadays the average American woman owns 30. 2. 25% of people who have two-car garages don't have space to park their cars. 4. Since the early 2000's the home organization industry has doubled in size. It now sees an annual earning of $8 billion. 3. In the last 50 years, the average American home size has tripled.

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5. One in ten Americans rents a storage unit outside of their home. 6. There are over 300,000 items in an average American home. 7. Each year the average American throws away 65 pounds (29 kg) of clothing.

8. An average child will accumulate 238 toys by the time they are 10 years old. They will only play with about 12 of them. 9. Annually Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry and watches ($100 billion) than they do on higher education. 10. Researchers have found that present day Americans purchase twice as many material goods as they did 50 years ago. 11. 60% of private consumption worldwide is done by 12% of the world, who live in North America and Western Europe.

12. In the US, there are more malls than high schools. 13. The average person will spend 3,680 hours (153 days, or 5 months) of their lives looking for misplaced items. The most frequent items are phones, keys, sunglasses, and paperwork. 14. Throughout her lifetime, the average American woman will spend more than 8 years shopping. 15. Almost half of American households are not saving, nor do they have a savings account. 16. Most households have more television sets than they do people.