Financial perspectives of emerging adults : similarities and differences between gen-zeds and millennials
Keyword
Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::PsychologyGeneration Y -- Research
Generation Z -- Research
Young adults -- Research
Millennials
Financial socialization
Financial development
Emerging adults
Financial literacy
Financial anxiety
Date Published
2020-05Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Emerging adults (individuals ages 18-24) today are struggling with finance. In fact, financial factors make up four of the top five stressors of college students today (Sinha et al., 2018) while, at the same time, much research has shown these populations lack the financial skills necessary to make even the most basic financial decisions (Serido & Deenanath, 2016; Shim, Serido, Bosch, & Tang, 2013; Terriquez & Gurantz, 2014). The problem does not seem to be related to a lack of resources, as there are currently more tools to help one improve financial literacy than ever before (Sinha, Tan, & Zhan, 2018). Perhaps roots of the problem stem from development. In 2011, Gudmonson and Danes founded a theory of financial socialization, claiming that financial development stems primarily from implicit and explicit lessons provided by one’s parents or guardians. This study dives into the financial perspectives of Millennials and Generation Z, attempting to cypher out commonalities and differences in financial development, knowledge, value, and anxiety between and within the generations. Major findings include differences between financial perspectives based on gender, social class, and political orientation. Adding to Gudmonson and Danes’ (2011) financial socialization theory, major differences were found in financial literacy and anxiety based on sibling birth order. These results suggest that siblings may directly or indirectly affect one’s financial socialization by influencing or supplementing parents’ explicit and implicit financial lessons. The study concludes with ideas for future research.Collections
The following license files are associated with this item:
- Creative Commons
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Financial Literacy of College Students and the Need for Compulsory Financial EducationFinancial literacy is a measure of an individual’s knowledge of financial concepts and their ability to use that knowledge to make critical decisions in the money management process. Literacy rates in America, as measured by behavioral indicators, are staggeringly low. Rates among teens and young adults have steadily declined over time and reached an all?time low in 2008 as recorded by a national survey by the Jump$tart® Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. Financial illiteracy, or the lack of financial knowledge, places an individual at a disadvantage in the American financial system when interacting with other economic agents, potentially leading to a lifetime of financial hardship. The consequences of the imbalance of power between consumers and service providers can be seen on a macroeconomic scale in the recent financial crisis. 49?question survey was administered to 51 participants in order to assess both the current financial literacy and the current decision?making capacity of undergraduate students. In addition, students were also assigned behavioral scores based on their financial habits over the last twelve months, and the relationships between behavior, decision?making ability, and financial literacy were explored. The results of the assessments were poor. Twenty?nine students received a passing behavioral score of 60 out of 100 or higher with an average score of 62.1 percent. Only twenty?six respondents received a passing literacy score of 60 out of 100 or higher with the mean test score at 55.9 percent. Thirty?one respondents received a passing decision making score of five out of eight or higher. The sample correlation coefficient between the financial literacy and financial decision?making scores was 0.474, suggesting a direct relationship between the two variables. So, as financial literacy increases, so does the capacity to make good financial decisions. Major obstacles to widespread financial literacy are a profound lack of basic technical and emotional skills, an inherent conflict of interest between financial service providers and their clients, and an increasingly complex financial system. A powerful way to overcome these obstacles and level the playing field between consumers and professionals is to mandate financial education in schools. By pooling federal, State, and private resources, it is possible to mend this gap in education and secure a more prosperous and well?informed future.
-
Evidence on the Impact of Internal Control over Financial Reporting on Audit FeesIntroduction: Circa 1992, the dot.com sector created an irrational stock-trading market where the usual “financial” profiles of: Liquidity, Cash Flow from Operations, and Revenue Ggeneration were replaced by Ponzi-esque mayhem. To stabilize the markets, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [PCOAOB] required a second audit opinion: the COSO Opinion on the adequacy of management’s system of Internal Control over Financial Reporting: [ICoFR]. Study Focus: Three COSO-[ICoFR] designations are now required as public information: (i) A “clean” opinion [Is Effective], (ii) Deficiencies are noted, and (iii) Weaknesses reported. Our research interest is to determine, for a panel of randomly selected firms traded on the S&P500 for a eleventen-year period: 2005 to 2015, the nature of the effect that the COSO deficiency reporting protocol has on (i) Audit Fees and (ii) the Market Cap of traded firms. Method: To this end we collected, using the Audit Analytics [WRDS] database, various categories of reported Audit Fees and also Market Cap information. This random sample was classified into two sets: the first group: Is Effective SEC 302 Designation and No COSO issues & the second group: Is Not 100% Effective for which there were SEC 302 Deficiencies or Weaknesses noted. Results: Inferential testing indicates that failure to attend to the PCAOB-COSO imperatives results in a relational where there are higher Audit Fees and a slippage of the firm’s Market Cap compared to the Is Effective Group. The PCAOB’s protocol to require the Audit of the firm’s ICoFR system and make that evaluation public information seems to be an excellent corrective “Carrot and Stick”.
-
The relationship between family socialization and financial behaviors in college studentsThis pilot study examined the relationship between family financial skills and behaviors and the financial behaviors and skills of college students. The goal of this study was to see if findings from Gudmunson and Danes (2011) who developed family financial socialization theory, would be replicated among SUNY New Paltz college students. Fifty-nine college students were surveyed using items from Jorgenson and Salva’s (2007) College Student Financial Literacy Survey (CSFLS). A correlational study was conducted; results suggested a positive, weak relationship; as family financial skills increased, financial skills increased. Overall results were not statistically significant; family financial interactions were not associated with the financial behaviors of college students. While no associations were identified at the variable level, at the item level, several associations were identified in the expected direction. Self- reported ability to manage one’s own finances was associated with learning about and observing financial management from parents/guardians. Self-reported ability to manage one’s own finances was associated with observing parents/guardians save money. Furthermore, among the 37 students who reported having one or more credit cards, family saving was negatively associated with owing money on one’s own credit cards. This research suggests the importance of family communication about financial skills and behaviors to encourage better financial behaviors in young adults.
