The Relationship Between Parenting Styles and Parental Financial Socialisation

Purpose: Parenting styles are an important factor in how parents raise their children. This study investigated the relationship between parenting styles and parental financial socialisation. Parenting style was measured through authoritarian, neglectful, authoritative, and permissive. While parental financial socialisation was determined through parental financial teaching. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study adopted quantitative research approach and used self-administered questionnaire to collect data from young adults in two provinces (Gauteng and Mpumalanga) in South Africa. Correlation analysis was used to analyse data. Findings: The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between authoritarian, authoritative, and a permissive parenting styles with parental financial teaching. The results further showed that there is a significant negative relationship between a neglectful parenting style and parental financial teaching. Thus, this indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between parenting styles and parental financial socialisation. Practical Implications: Parents should invest more time in understanding and evaluating their parenting styles and adopt authoritarian, authoritative and permissive parenting styles as they were found to support and foster parental financial socialisation. Financial educators and government must design and implement financial programmes aimed at making parents aware of different parenting styles. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by empirically testing the relationship between parenting styles and parental financial socialisation. There is no study that has been conducted before in South Africa. Paper Type: Research Paper