Mom vs. Dad: Budgets and Financial Literacy
Financial literacy is a term that has been creeping up all over the place in the past couple of years. Since April is financial literacy month, TD Bank conducted a survey to determine each parent's role in teaching financial literacy to their children.
According to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, better budgeting contributed to Americans paying off nearly $1 trillion in debt over the past two years. Nevertheless, this survey also reveals that 47% of families are still not following or even creating a monthly budget and only one out of three parents are setting a savings goal, an essential tool for parents to realize their objective. However, it is the reason behind why each parent does not budget that makes this survey so applicable to studies of male and female behavior. According to the TD Bank Financial Literacy survey:
- 34% of respondents rated their financial knowledge as “good” or better, but dads are found to be nearly 10% more confident than moms
- 35% of dads claim they do not need a financial budget
- 19% of moms claim they find budgets too complicated or do not know how to create one
This is eerily reminiscent of a survey published recently by Mail Online, which states that 83% of male drivers will regularly defy their GPS's instructions versus only 74% of women who will sometimes ignore it, confirming the old stereotype that men will not ask for directions (or even follow them) about anything, now including financial direction.
Read: Men Vs. Women: Financial Management Differences
Also Read: National Financial Literacy Month is in Full Swing
The survey also found that moms are more likely to engage in everyday financial conversations:
- Teaching children how to count money (81%)
- Teaching money matters while shopping (70%)
- Saving money in a piggy bank (70%)
Dads are more likely to focus on the tangible aspects of money:
- Providing an allowance (52%)
- Setting a savings goal (32%)
Tell us in the comments section below about your financial budgeting and if there are any consistent differences among genders.
