How Much Money?

How much money do parents give their adult children? How many adult children receive money from their parents? These questions are answered in a new study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (An In-Depth Look Into Intergenerational Flows). Analyzing data from successive waves of the Health and Retirement Study (a longitudinal panel survey of older householders taken every two years since 1992), the researchers discovered substantial transfers of money from parents to adult children.

During each wave of the survey, approximately 20 percent of adult children living in another household received money from their parents, with $9,000 being the average amount received. Limiting the analysis to households that had participated in every wave of the survey, the researchers found that 61 percent of adult children had been given money by their parents at some point, receiving a total of $28,500.

The results show that parents give more to younger (adult) children and to children who are having financial trouble--such as those who have lost a job. These early parental transfers are "positively and significantly related with children's education and income class later in life," say the researchers.