Childhood experience of parental affection and financial well-being in later life: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Childhood experience of parental affection has been shown to be influential in numerous domains of a child's life. Using a nationally representative sample of older Americans, this study examined the association between childhood experience of parental affection and financial well-being four to five decades later. Consistent with the literature, childhood experience of parental affection was found to be positively related to both objective and subjective financial well-being, as evidenced by greater total assets and lower total debt, debt-to-assets ratio, propensity to experience difficulty paying bills, and financial satisfaction. The results were robust to controlling for early life characteristics of parents and family, as well as addressing potential recall bias in retrospective reports. Our findings suggest that parental affection in childhood exerts a long-lasting influence on financial well-being, which persists into later life. Early intervention for those who lack parental affection may complement financial education programs and yield significant lifetime benefits.