Nearly 60 Percent of Canadian Parents Worry About Their Kids’ Financial Future: Survey

Canadian $100 bills are counted in Toronto on Feb. 2, 2016. The Canadian Press/Graeme Roy

Nearly 60 percent of Canadian parents are worried about their children’s financial future, according to a new survey by TD Bank Group.

Released on July 19, the survey noted 58 percent of Canadian parents said they often worry about their child’s financial future, particularly amid high inflation and uncertain economic conditions prevailing in the country.

An overwhelming majority of the surveyed parents (89 percent) also said they would feel more confident if their kids had gained better financial knowledge prior to their teenage years.

The results were based on a Maru Public Opinion survey conducted on behalf of the bank from June 8 to June 13. A total of 1,008 Canadian parents with children under the age of 18 were randomly selected for the poll.

‘Never Too Late’

According to the survey, 66 percent of the parents were not highly confident in their children’s financial knowledge for their current age.

Sixty percent of these parents also claimed they have made mistakes with their own finances due to a lack of financial education during childhood.

“Our survey shows that 70 percent of Canadian parents don’t feel very prepared to support their kids’ financial literacy at home,” said Emily Ross, vice president of Everyday Advice Journey at TD, in a news release.

“We understand that it can be hard to find the time or even know where to begin and are here to help parents and children on their journey to building healthy financial habits.”

Budgeting (73 percent) and saving money (72 percent) were two of the most important financial fundamentals parents wanted children to learn today, the survey found.

However, it noted respondents fell short in having regular discussions with their kids about personal or home finances, with only 29 percent of them discussing the latter with their child on a weekly basis.

“It’s never too early to start talking about finances and there are small, simple steps parents can take now to help increase their children’s financial knowledge,” Ms. Ross said.

“We suggest parents keep the conversation age appropriate, talk openly and honestly about money, and help your kids distinguish between needs versus wants.”

The survey has a margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.