Stepping Up—Leaning Back: Young Adults Constructing Financial Agency in the Verge of Financial Independence

This study investigated young adults’ financial agency-building. In youth, agency-building entails becoming aware of capabilities possessed and structural conditions. Despite the agentic viewpoint being well-established in youth research, agency in financial issues is understudied. We conducted semi-structured interviews for 18 independently living young adults from Finland aged between 21 and 26 years. The transcribed interviews were narratively analysed. Participants shared events that represented their orientation towards financially independent adulthood. The narratives of ‘stepping up to adulthood’ and ‘leaning back on childhood’ demonstrate their differing tendencies to resort to parental support. Becoming aware of their parents’ financial socialization increased confidence to update their skills in the future. Our study suggests that parents’ financial socialization not only increases children’s financial capabilities but functions as a mirror surface for young adults, thus supporting financial agency-building. Complementing the theorization of financial socialization, this study presents the young adults’ perspective on financial agency-building.