As More Schools Focus on Financial Education, Majority of U.S. Parents Are Teaching Kids About Money at Home 

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2021—More than 70% of parents in the U.S. are regularly discussing financial topics with their children, from saving and spending to working with a bank. Despite once being viewed as a taboo topic, parents today are bringing financial conversations to the table and a majority are talking about their family’s own financial situation. 

New Chase research shows that parents are unwavering in their commitment to financial health in the New Year and have already established a number of top financial resolutions this year including paying down debt, improving credit scores, paying bills on-time, and building a savings or rainy-day fund.

The new Chase Financial Health Study—conducted in partnership with Morning Consult—surveyed more than 4,000 adults on the state of their finances, attitudes towards talking to their kids about saving and budgeting, and actions they plan to take in the New Year to improve their financial health. The survey polled parents of kids ages 17 and under.

“These findings underscore that parents are bringing their kids into conversations about money to help them understand how to budget, save and spend mindfully,” said Matt Gromada, Managing Director, Head of Product Development & Innovation at Chase. “A good understanding of how to manage your money starts with what kids see and learn at home. By establishing habits early, kids can be one step closer to a strong financial future of their own.”

Conversations amongst parents and kids ages 17 and younger about finances are happening.

• 70% of parents are currently teaching their children about the basics of finances (like saving, investing, using a bank)
• 62% of parents talk about their family’s own financial situation, which may include their ability to purchase certain things, take a family trip or participate in extracurricular activities
• 66% of parents cited they are helping their child plan their financial future, which may include things like setting up a bank account, saving money for major purchases and career expenses
• Among parents having regular financial conversations with their children, teaching kids about saving was the top family-related financial goal for 2022 (32%), followed by talking with kids more about finances generally (26%), having kids do regular chores to earn money (25%), and teaching them about money, including monthly bills and expenses they don’t know about (24%)

Parents today feel good overall about their financial health, but are stressed about making ends meet.

• Parents rate their personal financial situation as good (67%) and 60% say that their financial situation will improve in the next year
• The top financial stressor for parents was cited as meeting their family’s basic living expenses, like paying for food and utilities (40%), followed by paying for new clothes for their kids (32%) and emergency expenses (25%)
• Stress over emergency and back to school expenses has ticked upward since Q2 of this year

Paying down debt, improving credit scores, paying bills on-time, and building a rainy-day fund are top financial goals for parents in the New Year.

• 41% of parents of kids ages 17 and younger indicate that paying down debt in 2022 is their top savings goal
• 37% of parents of kids ages 17 and younger aspire to improve their credit score in 2022
• Parents of younger kids (ages 5 and younger) are more focused on saving for a new home or major life events, while parents of older kids (ages 13 – 17) are more likely to be saving for retirement

Parents indicate that they’re interested in digital tools, like mobile apps, to reach financial goals.

• Almost half of parents of kids ages 17 and younger would be interested in a digital tool from banks to help them budget or save automatically (44%).
• Mobile app access and improvement was among the top three areas parents of kids ages 17 and younger would like banks to focus on (25%), and even more so among parents of younger kids (ages 5 and younger) (29%).

For resources and tools to help drive conversation with kids about financial health, visit
www.chase.com/financialgoals.

Additionally, Chase customers can learn more about Chase First Banking here:
www.chase.com/firstbanking.

About Chase 
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading financial services firm based in the United States with assets of $3.8 trillion and operations worldwide. Chase serves more than 60 million American households with a broad range of financial services, including personal banking, credit cards, mortgages, auto financing, investment advice, small business loans and payment processing. Customers can choose how and where they want to bank: More than 4,700 branches in 48 states and the District of Columbia, 16,000 ATMs, mobile, online and by phone. For more information, go to chase.com. 

This study is based on a Chase survey conducted by Morning Consult sampling more than 4,000 adults age 18 and up in the United States between September 15 – 30, 2021. It includes natural fallouts of parents of children varying age groups (0 – 17). The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to be nationally representative (according to Census measurements) of adults age 18+ by age, gender, education, income, and geographic region.

Research Appendix

• Over half of parents do not have savings to last more than a few weeks if they are suddenly unable to work (53%)
• Other frequent child-related stressors for parents include paying for technology needed for school (21%), back-to-school expenses (20%), saving or paying for college (19%), and paying for childcare (18%)
• Parents are most confident in their ability to save money (73%) and build an emergency fund (73%)
• 35% of parents of kids ages 5 and younger highlighted starting a “side hustle” as top financial goal for 2022, along with improving their credit score (41%)
• Teaching children about saving was the top family-related financial goal for the New Year for all parents (29%), followed by teaching them about finances generally (23%) and having them do regular chores for money (23%)
• Among those not having financial conversations, age of children is the most important factor (44%); 17% say they never discussed finances with their families as children

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