Despite a faltering economy and unemployment numbers that continue to creep higher, parents are still likely to help children who fall into a financial quagmire, a new study finds.
But moms and dads draw the line at the type of debt they’re willing to cover for their kids, the study for CreditCards.com reveals, and not all the help is free or without a finger-wagging.
More than one in every five fathers said they would provide more than $20,000 in financial assistance to their children if the debt were to pay off a credit card or some other life expense such as a mortgage or utility bill, the poll of more than 1,000 adults found.
And that’s even if they did not expect to be repaid.
But when it came to mothers, just 12 percent said they would cut the same check in the same situation.
Where both parents drew the line was in helping children pay off a gambling debt. More than 61 percent of the fathers and 66 percent of the mothers said all bets are off.
The results were a surprise to some who said they contradict the norms of how society has viewed parental interactions and which parent is considered the disciplinarian and which is not.
“It was startling because you think of moms as the soft spot,” said Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research at CreditCards.com. “Perhaps it’s because more women than men control the bill-paying and the household budgets and they draw the harder line than the fathers.”
The survey doesn’t differentiate the ages or sex of the children.
Parents also are more likely to help their children bail out of a financial mess with rent or mortgage payments, an auto loan, education debt or medical expenses, the survey found.
Student loans scored highest, with 70 percent of fathers and 59 percent of mothers offering little resistance to help.
But there’s ample room for caution, personal-finance experts warn.
“Parents need to be realistic about the help they give, since being too generous can put them in a position of hardship,” said Kim McGrigg with Consumer Credit Counseling Services in Denver. “Bailing them out of a self-inflicted jam might not be the best lesson. There are times your help does more harm than good.”
The poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media for CreditCards.com.
The poll results seem contrary to a different study that concludes parents are worried about their children’s money-management skills.
That survey, released recently by the Consumer Federation of America, found that while parents were concerned about how their kids manage their money, they also wonder whether they’re the right people to teach them how.
“Parents are clearly more sensitive to debt, and they’re concerned,” Woolsey said.
David Migoya: 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com