Childhood Roots of Financial Literacy

Antonia Grohmann, Roy Kouwenberg and Lukas Menkhoff

No 1504, Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin from DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: Financial literacy predicts informed financial decisions, but what explains financial literacy? We use the concept of financial socialization and aim to represent three major agents of financial socialization: family, school and work. Thus we compile twelve relevant childhood characteristics in a new survey study and examine their relation to financial literacy, while controlling for established socio-demographic characteristics. We find in a mediation analysis that both family and school positively affect the financial literacy of adults. Moreover, financial literacy and school related variables also have a direct effect on financial behavior. This suggests that family factors and schooling work through complementary channels.

Keywords: Financial literacy; financial behavior; family background; education; numeracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 G11 I20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 p.
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (54)

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Journal Article: Childhood roots of financial literacy (2015)
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