Parent Financial Socialization and Financial Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

ABSTRACT We present a meta‐analysis of the associations between parent financial socialization during childhood/adolescence and financial outcomes in emerging adulthood, synthesizing results from 39 studies presented in 36 articles. The articles were identified via a systematic review. Parent financial socialization was positively associated with financial outcomes generally and with financial attitudes, financial behavior, financial knowledge, and financial wellbeing specifically, but not with financial capabilities. The association with financial outcomes generally depended on study location, sample gender, sample parental income, sample parental education level, and sample socioeconomic status (SES). To improve emerging adults' financial wellbeing and other financial outcomes, practitioners and policymakers should support parents in providing high‐quality financial socialization to their children and adolescents. Parent financial socialization may be especially important for lower‐SES children/adolescents (based on overall SES) but may not be as effective for those whose parents do not have sufficient education (based solely on parents' education level).