HighKaren Quinn, a New York City-based author, likes to think of herself as a progressive parent. A former lawyer and businesswoman, she paints, writes books (three novels to date) and tries to avoid pushing her two kids -- Sam, 15, and his sister Schuyler, 16 -- into gender-based pigeonholes.
But when it comes to money, she finds Sam and Schuyler are spending right along gender lines.
Both drop the biggest part of their weekly allowances on food -- fast food for Sam, who gets $80 a week, and Chinese and Japanese takeout for Schuyler, who is given $120. Movies are a close second. But after that, Sam's money goes to ring tones, music and videos; Schuyler spends her money on clothes and shoes. 
See what Schuyler is buying
"It's amazing that the gender stereotypes are so consistent," says Quinn. "I don't encourage them one way or another -- they can buy whatever they want. But it's been fascinating to see how they spend the extra cash." Why a $120 allowance?
As youth spending continues to rise, marketers and analysts are putting more effort into figuring out just what American kids are buying with their pocket money. And the results suggest that Sam and Schuyler's spending divide is typical.
A 2004 study conducted by TNS, an international market research firm, found that 79% of boys from ages 10 to 14 spend their money on games, compared with 42% of girls -- who prefer to buy CDs, books and clothes.
Gender differences aside, U.S. kids spend the biggest chunk of change on entertainment and technology: American kids spend most of their money on games (63% of all U.S. kids), clothes (31%) and CDs (27%), according to the TNS report.
"When shopping with their parents, kids are often allowed to make choices for themselves, increasing their overall spending power," says Keith Holzmueller, vice president of TNS' Research Insights Group.
Today's kids -- even those as young as 3 -- wield an enormous amount of spending power. According to estimates in "The Kids' Market in the U.S.," a 2006 report from market-research publisher Packaged Facts, kids aged 3 to 11 comprise a U.S. population subgroup of 36 million that had a collective $18 billion in purchasing power in 2005. The report projects that kids will command $21.4 billion in discretionary spending by 2010, with annual family expenditures on kids' products set to reach approximately $143 billion.
And as the amount of money in kids' wallets increases, it falls to parents to figure out how to teach their kids to responsibly save, budget and spend their cash.