The Museum of Saving developed and promoted the sample research “Parents and children: how important is the family in the use of money by the new generations”, carried out between September and October 2022 on 311 families representative of the Italian population. A total of 824 people were interviewed: 444 parents and 380 children of which 224 boys and 156 girls aged between 14 and 20. In the survey parents were asked 42 questions and children 45.
The aim of the research was to understand whether money management models are part of the educational content offered by parents, how they transfer across generations and how they are adopted by children.
Many aspects of relationships within the family and with third parties were investigated. In addition to the socio-demographic component, the questions in the survey concerned: different ways to comunicate between parents and children; the activities and their frequency carried out by the family; the educational models related to money and its social representation; self-reported money management behaviors; the role of study and school for the new generations.
The picture that emerges is that families can effectively dialogue. However, educational and cultural levels (more specifically books read), income and geographical location play an important role in transmitting behaviors and values related to money. Children consider their parents as models to follow even if they don’t have a particularly high level of economic-financial knowledge. But more than words, they follow the concrete examples they are given. In a family, the transfer of value models related to risk management, savings and the social representation of money appears quite evident, while the perception of anxiety and unease is less transferable. Youngsters are less involved by the stress of money management and have a less pessimistic view of the future.
While the family (in particular the mother) appears to be the solid point of reference regarding money, school does not seem to play a significant role in this area for either children or adults.
Regarding gender, the main differences are between mothers and fathers while among young people the gap is less notable, even if the educational models remain at least partially misaligned for daughters and sons.
Download here the results of the survey Parents and children: how important is the family in the use of money by the new generations.
For further information on the results of the survey, you can consult the working paper “Money management models how important is the family” by Giovanna Paladino.