Argent et sentiments. Une interprétation des déterminants de l’aide financière des parents aux jeunes adultes

Abstract

[eng] Using a French survey on the resources of young adults (Enquete nationale sur les ressources des jeunes adultes, ENRJ), this article analyses the links between family relationships and the regular financial support provided by parents to their young adult children aged 18 to 24. Beyond the “classic” determining factors of parental support, parent-child relationships, understood in terms of their frequency and quality, have an influence on the support provided. All other things being equal, frequent in-person contact will result in lower monetary payments. This result could be interpreted as a way for parents to “monetise their absence”, by using financial support to replace the material services they can provide to their children when they see them more frequently. The separate analysis of the support received by young adults from their father or mother also shows that relationship-based variables play a greater role for mothers than for fathers when the parents are together, while they play a greater role for fathers when the parents are separated.