Relatively Small Numbers of U.S. Adults Financially Support Their Parents

A new Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Personal Finance Poll shows that a small percentage of U.S. adults provide financial assistance to their parents, and among this group, many say it impacts their personal finances. About half (53%) of adults do not assist their parent(s) with their financial planning or contribute to their financial support.

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A small percentage of adult Americans (4%) contribute to their parents’ financial support and another 4% say they contribute financial support and assist their parents with financial planning. Of these adults overall who contribute financial support, a majority (70%) says that this support does impact their personal finances. Specifically, 59% say it impacts their personal finances but they can still get by, and 11% say it is a major burden on their personal finances.

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These are some of the results of the online survey of 2,717 U.S. adults conducted between July 28 and Aug. 1, 2005, for The Wall Street Journal Online’s Personal Journal Edition.

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Americans contributing to their parent’s financial support do so in different ways. While majorities say they contribute toward their parents’ general expenses such as transportation, clothing, food, etc. (65%), or housing expenses (52%), fewer (but not insignificant numbers) contribute toward such expenses as health care (27%), recreation or travel (19%), and assisted living or a nursing home (13%). Fifteen percent (15%) say they provide financial support for other expenses.

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« This information is especially relevant in light of our country’s aging population, » said Anne Aldrich, senior vice president of the Financial Services Research Practice at Harris Interactive(R). « Boomers are financially impacted from all sides as they are saving for their own retirement, their children are moving through college years, and some are even pitching in to help their parents. »

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Downloadable PDFs of The Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Personal Finance Polls are posted at http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters_wsjfinance.asp

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Methodology

Harris Interactive conducted this online survey within the United States between July 28 and Aug. 1, 2005 among a national cross section of 2,717 adults, ages 18 years and over. Figures for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income and region were weighted where necessary to align with population proportions. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

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In theory, with probability samples of this size, one can say with 95% certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for the sub-sample results of adults who contribute to their parents’ financial support (183) is plus or minus 11 percentage points. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. This includes refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, and weighting.

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It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample is not a probability sample. ; These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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About the Survey

The Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Personal Finance Poll is an exclusive poll that is published in the Personal Journal Edition of The Wall Street Journal Online at http://www.wsj.com/personaljournal.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive Inc.

Web Site: http://www.harrisinteractive.com

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All of the above text is a press release provided by the quoted organization. globalagingtimes.com accepts no responsibility for their accuracy.