Countless agencies, banks, financial advisors, and even #finlit influencers encourage parents to talk to their children about money, yet very little work exists reporting on how these conversations actually unfold. We recorded and transcribed 203 parent-child dyads as they discussed a range of money-related topics. Results revealed that parents and children respond differently, and in an unexpected way, to spending and that parent-child talk about money maps onto children’s financial decision making. Implications of our findings for researchers and practitioners committed to improving financial well-being from early childhood will be discussed.

About the guest speaker

Dr. Margaret Echelbarger is an Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University (New York, USA), where her research focuses on children's development as consumers, particularly in the realm of financial decision-making. She earned her PhD in psychology from the University of Michigan and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago. As a former doctoral student who struggled with writing, Dr. Echelbarger faced her own challenges and anxieties about academic writing. To combat these challenges, in 2019, she founded the #100DaysOfWriting community, an international online network now comprising hundreds of scholars from various disciplines, aimed at fostering productive writing habits. Dr. Echelbarger’s contributions to making academia more accessible and transparent have been recognized by leading professional societies, including the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science.