“Buy him some Tesla stocks for his baptism”: Gender differences among young savers

Jeanette Carlsson Hauff () and Cecilia Hermansson ()
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Jeanette Carlsson Hauff: Department of Marketing, Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law, Gothenburg, Sweden
Cecilia Hermansson: Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, Royal Institute of Technology, Postal: Teknikringen 10B, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

No 23/12, Working Paper Series from Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance

Abstract: This paper investigates gender roles in children’s savings, specifically defined as differences pertaining to age, capital invested, financial activity and portfolio composition, using a sample of 58,000 children. We observe gender differences between young female and male account holders. The average age and activity level of boys are significantly higher whereas girls hold more capital in their accounts. We note that activity interacts with both gender, age and capital, and is decisive in explaining financial behaviour, especially that of boys. We conclude that girls have a lower share of saving in direct-owned stock already before the age of one. This difference lingers throughout childhood and peaks for children aged 15-17. We discuss our findings applying structuration theory, differentiating between implicit and explicit parental impact prevailing among adolescents, and the definite caring regarding younger children. For policymakers and managers, awareness that gender differences regarding financial behaviour prevail is an important insight.

Keywords: saving; children; parents; gender; portfolio composition; activity; structuration theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 G11 G51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2023-11-15, Revised 2024-09-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-gen
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