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Expectations and the Saving Behaviour of Children: Analysis of the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Brown

    (Department of Economics, The University of Sheffield)

  • Karl Taylor

    (Department of Economics, The University of Sheffield)

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the saving behaviour of a sample of children drawn from the 2002 and 2007 Child Development Supplements of the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics. In particular, we focus on the influence of children’s expectations and attitudes towards the future on the total level of children’s savings as well as on savings specifically for future education and savings for other purposes. Overall, our findings suggest that the saving behaviour of children, as measured by the level of savings, appears to be influenced by their expectations, especially expectations regarding future educational attainment and life expectancy. Specifically, the level of savings held by children is monotonically increasing in the expected level of educational attainment and children who are pessimistic about their future life expectancy are found to hold lower levels of savings, which is consistent with discounting future consumption heavily.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Brown & Karl Taylor, 2012. "Expectations and the Saving Behaviour of Children: Analysis of the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics," Working Papers 2012015, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:shf:wpaper:2012015
    as

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    File URL: http://www.shef.ac.uk/economics/research/serps/articles/2012_015.html
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    3. Barnet-Verzat, Christine & Wolff, Francois-Charles, 2002. "Motives for pocket money allowance and family incentives," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 339-366, June.
    4. Guido W. Imbens & Donald B. Rubin & Bruce I. Sacerdote, 2001. "Estimating the Effect of Unearned Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery Players," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 778-794, September.
    5. Sarah Brown & Steven Mcintosh & Karl Taylor, 2011. "Following in Your Parents’ Footsteps? Empirical Analysis of Matched Parent–Offspring Test Scores," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 73(1), pages 40-58, February.
    6. Das, Marcel & van Soest, Arthur, 1999. "A panel data model for subjective information on household income growth," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 409-426, December.
    7. Otto, Annette M.C. & Schots, Paul A.M. & Westerman, Joris A.J. & Webley, Paul, 2006. "Children's use of saving strategies: An experimental approach," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 57-72, February.
    8. Souleles, Nicholas S, 2004. "Expectations, Heterogeneous Forecast Errors, and Consumption: Micro Evidence from the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Surveys," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(1), pages 39-72, February.
    9. François-Charles Wolff, 2006. "Parental transfers and the labor supply of children," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 19(4), pages 853-877, October.
    10. Sarah Brown & Gaia Garino & Karl Taylor, 2008. "Mortgages and Financial Expectations: A Household-Level Analysis," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(3), pages 857-878, January.
    11. Sarah Brown & Karl Taylor, 2008. "Household debt and financial assets: evidence from Germany, Great Britain and the USA," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 171(3), pages 615-643, June.
    12. Sarah Brown & Gaia Garino & Karl Taylor & Stephen Wheatley Price, 2005. "Debt and Financial Expectations: An Individual- and Household-Level Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 43(1), pages 100-120, January.
    13. Margaret Sherraden & Lissa Johnson & Baorong Guo & William Elliott, 2011. "Financial Capability in Children: Effects of Participation in a School-Based Financial Education and Savings Program," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 385-399, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    expectations; household finances; intergenerational analysis; saving;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance

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