Parental financial socialization and the development of financial capability in young adults: A college student sample

This study examines how the relationship among anticipatory socialization (parent, school, work), financial learning processes (adopting parental role modeling and financial knowledge), and financial behavioral indicators change over time. Extended from existing literature on the role of parents in financial socialization and its relationship to downstream financial well-being indicators, this study seeks to understand where and by what means young adults obtain their financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors and from which sources they are learning from as they develop their own financial skills. The longitudinal APLUS dataset which follows students from approximate ages 18-21 to 26-29 is used with both one-way repeated measures Welch ANOVAs and structural equation modeling to explore how individual variables and relationships change over time. Results show that parents continue to serve as significant financial socialization agents. Additional analyses suggest there are changes in the relationship of the socialization constructs of parent financial behavior, parent direct teaching, youth work experiences, and formal financial education on young adult financial behaviors through the mediators of financial knowledge and attitude over time. Implications for practitioners include encouraging parent/child financial communication and positive financial role modeling along with providing quality, purposeful formal financial education opportunities for youth