Many Asian Parents Doubt Their Money Parenting Skills, Study Shows
Jakarta. Three in four parents in Asia doubt their money parenting skills, according to a study by Eastsprings Investment.
The Prudential subsidiary recently held a survey on 10,000 parents in nine Asian markets, including Indonesia, to analyze their perspective and knowledge on teaching kids about money.
The study showed 51 percent of the parent respondents are unsure whether they are good financial teachers to their children. Even so, a whopping 95 percent agree on the importance of teaching children how to use and manage their money.
Also, 43 percent of the respondents seek to learn more on financial management to become better teachers. Their current teaching style is mostly influenced by their own experience and knowledge. But they are interested in using tools such as mobile apps, websites, and even attend financial management workshops with their kids.
The study also comprises the Money Parenting Confidence Index.
From the scale 0.01 to 1, the study scores how confident parents are in educating their children money management skills. Based on this, the regional average score was 0.65 with parents in Indonesia scoring the highest at 0.73. Followed by Thailand and Vietnam with 0.71 and 0.69 respectively. The least confident ones are parents in Japan with 0.5, South Korea (0.59), and Taiwan (0.61) whose scores fall under the regional average.
Additionally, 35 percent of parents would like to know what other parents do to teach their children on money.
The study found 59 percent households find money parenting a shared responsibility between the mom and dad. Twenty five percent households have the mother take the leading role in teaching their kids, while 12 percent others have their fathers take care of the money parenting. Very few households pass the task to other people.
A majority of parents have also started teaching their kids basic money management skills from an early age.
Thirty seven percent of parents believe children should start learning financial management under the age of 6. For 30 percent others, the right age to begin financial education should be at 7 to 10 years old. Meanwhile, 14 percent of parents find their kids should only start learn to better manage their money when they reach the age of 11 and 12.
According to Eastspring's chief executive officer, Seck Wai-Kwong, financial security are on top of everyone's minds more than ever before due to the Covid-19 pandemic-induced economic uncertainty.
"During these times, children are more aware of the financial pressure that affects their families. With this initiative, we are sure that parents become more ready to help the next generation make wise financial decisions, understand the important aspects of money and lead a financially healthy life," Seck said.
To this end, Eastspring launched a microsite to help parents become better financial teachers to their kids. Parents can take the on-site quiz to discover their money parenting style and which suits their child.
The company also plans to launch a social media for parents to share their experience, techniques, and tools for money parenting.
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