While the assets are powerful shapers of young people’s lives and choices, too few young people experience many of these assets, based on surveys of almost 150,000 6th- to 12th-grade youth in 202 communities across the Unites States in calendar year 2003.
Average Number of Assets by Grade and Gender
The average young person surveyed experiences only 18.6 of the 40 assets. In general, older youth have lower average levels of assets than younger youth. And boys experience fewer assets than girls.
Total Sample 18.6
| Grade | |
| 6th | 23.0 |
| 7th | 20.2 |
| 8th | 18.7 |
| 9th | 17.7 |
| 10th | 17.6 |
| 11th | 17.6 |
| 12th | 17.8 |
| Gender | |
| Female | 19.9 |
| Male | 17.2 |
The Gap in Assets Among Youth
While there is no “magic number” of assets young people should have, our data indicate that 31 is a worthy, though challenging, benchmark for experiencing their positive effects most strongly. Yet, as this chart shows, only 8 percent of youth have 31 or more assets. More than half have 20 or fewer assets.
| Total Sample | |
| 0–10 Assets | 17% |
| 11–20 Assets | 42% |
| 21–30 Assets | 32% |
| 31–40 Assets | 8% |
