IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nathum/v9y2025i5d10.1038_s41562-025-02207-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis of demographic variation and childhood correlates of financial well-being across 22 countries

Author

Listed:
  • Piotr Bialowolski

    (Kozminski University
    Harvard University)

  • Christos A. Makridis

    (University of Nicosia
    Baylor University
    Arizona State University)

  • Matt Bradshaw

    (Baylor University)

  • Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska

    (Harvard University
    Kozminski University)

  • Craig Gundersen

    (Baylor University)

  • Noémie Pertel

    (Harvard University)

  • Cristina Gibson

    (Pepperdine University)

  • Sung Joon Jang

    (Baylor University
    Pepperdine University)

  • R. Noah Padgett

    (Harvard University
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

  • Byron R. Johnson

    (Harvard University
    Baylor University
    Pepperdine University)

  • Tyler J. VanderWeele

    (Harvard University
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

Abstract

Using nationally representative data from 202,898 participants in the Global Flourishing Study, this work examines factors associated with financial well-being across 22 countries. We investigate how demographic factors—including age, gender, marital status, employment status, education, religious service attendance and immigration status—are correlated with financial well-being (as assessed through four dimensions). Additionally, we analyse associations between recalled early-life conditions, such as parental marital status and childhood health, with financial well-being in adulthood. Our findings reveal cross-national differences in levels of financial well-being and its demographic correlates. Early-life conditions were also consistently associated with adult financial well-being, although these associations varied substantially across countries. These results suggest that understanding financial well-being should encompass both current sociodemographic factors and early-life experiences within the unique cultural and socioeconomic contexts of different populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Piotr Bialowolski & Christos A. Makridis & Matt Bradshaw & Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska & Craig Gundersen & Noémie Pertel & Cristina Gibson & Sung Joon Jang & R. Noah Padgett & Byron R. Johnson & Tyler J, 2025. "Analysis of demographic variation and childhood correlates of financial well-being across 22 countries," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 9(5), pages 917-932, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:9:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1038_s41562-025-02207-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02207-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02207-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41562-025-02207-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew M. Penner & Trond Petersen & Are Skeie Hermansen & Anthony Rainey & István Boza & Marta M. Elvira & Olivier Godechot & Martin Hällsten & Lasse Folke Henriksen & Feng Hou & Aleksandra Kanjuo Mrč, 2023. "Within-job gender pay inequality in 15 countries," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(2), pages 184-189, February.
    2. Flèche, Sarah & Lekfuangfu, Warn N. & Clark, Andrew E., 2021. "The long-lasting effects of family and childhood on adult wellbeing: Evidence from British cohort data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 290-311.
    3. repec:oup:ecpoli:v:24:y:2009:i::p:107-140 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Piotr Bialowolski & Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska, 2014. "Erratum to: The Index of Household Financial Condition, Combining Subjective and Objective Indicators: An Appraisal of Italian Households," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 387-387, August.
    5. de Bruijn, Ernst-Jan & Antonides, Gerrit, 2020. "Determinants of financial worry and rumination," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. J. Michael Collins & Carly Urban, 2020. "Measuring financial well-being over the lifecourse," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4-5), pages 341-359, March.
    7. Piotr Bialowolski & Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska, 2014. "The Index of Household Financial Condition, Combining Subjective and Objective Indicators: An Appraisal of Italian Households," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 365-385, August.
    8. Hilbert, Leon P. & Noordewier, Marret K. & van Dijk, Wilco W., 2022. "The prospective associations between financial scarcity and financial avoidance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2014. "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 5-44, March.
    10. repec:osf:osfxxx:r2s78_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Keane, Michael P & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1997. "The Career Decisions of Young Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 473-522, June.
    12. Piotr Bialowolski & Jing Jian Xiao & Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska, 2023. "National Culture and Financial Capability: A Global Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 877-891, December.
    13. Thomas Buser, 2015. "The Effect of Income on Religiousness," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 178-195, July.
    14. Elizabeth A. Minton & Kathryn A. Johnson & Maricarmen Vizcaino & Christopher Wharton, 2020. "Is it godly to waste food? How understanding consumers' religion can help reduce consumer food waste," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1246-1269, December.
    15. Clara E. Jace & Christos A. Makridis, 2021. "Does marriage protect mental health? Evidence from the COVID‐19 pandemic," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2499-2515, November.
    16. Kleimeier, Stefanie & Hoffmann, Arvid O.I. & Broihanne, Marie-Hélène & Plotkina, Daria & Göritz, Anja S., 2023. "Determinants of individuals’ objective and subjective financial fragility during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    17. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Samuelson Appau & Lisa Farrell, 2019. "Religiosity, income and wellbeing in developing countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 959-985, March.
    18. Fu, Jonathan, 2020. "Ability or opportunity to act: What shapes financial well-being?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    19. James J. Heckman & John Eric Humphries & Gregory Veramendi, 2018. "The Nonmarket Benefits of Education and Ability," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(2), pages 282-304.
    20. Chen, Ying & Kubzansky, Laura D. & VanderWeele, Tyler J., 2019. "Parental warmth and flourishing in mid-life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 65-72.
    21. Andrew M. Penner & Trond Petersen & Are Skeie Hermansen & Anthony Rainey & István Boza & Marta M. Elvira & Olivier Godechot & Martin Hällsten & Lasse Folke Henriksen & Feng Hou & Aleksandra Kanjuo Mrč, 2023. "Author Correction: Within-job gender pay inequality in 15 countries," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(2), pages 291-291, February.
    22. Laurent E. Calvet & John Y. Campbell & Paolo Sodini, 2009. "Measuring the Financial Sophistication of Households," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 393-398, May.
    23. Brüggen, Elisabeth C. & Hogreve, Jens & Holmlund, Maria & Kabadayi, Sertan & Löfgren, Martin, 2017. "Financial well-being: A conceptualization and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 228-237.
    24. Mathur, Maya B & VanderWeele, Tyler, 2020. "Robust metrics and sensitivity analyses for meta-analyses of heterogeneous effects," OSF Preprints r2s78, Center for Open Science.
    25. Ying Chen & Jess Haines & Brittany M. Charlton & Tyler J. VanderWeele, 2019. "Positive parenting improves multiple aspects of health and well-being in young adulthood," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(7), pages 684-691, July.
    26. Richard G Netemeyer & Dee Warmath & Daniel Fernandes & John G LynchJr. & Eileen FischerEditor & Olivier ToubiaAssociate Editor, 2018. "How Am I Doing? Perceived Financial Well-Being, Its Potential Antecedents, and Its Relation to Overall Well-Being," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 45(1), pages 68-89.
    27. L. Bettendorf & E. Dijkgraaf, 2011. "The bicausal relation between religion and income," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(11), pages 1351-1363.
    28. Viechtbauer, Wolfgang, 2010. "Conducting Meta-Analyses in R with the metafor Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 36(i03).
    29. Demakakos, Panayotes & Nazroo, James & Breeze, Elizabeth & Marmot, Michael, 2008. "Socioeconomic status and health: The role of subjective social status," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 330-340, July.
    30. repec:bla:ecpoli:v:24:y:2009:i::p:107-140 is not listed on IDEAS
    31. Bettendorf, L. & Dijkgraaf, E., 2010. "Religion and income: Heterogeneity between countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(1-2), pages 12-29, May.
    32. Ravi Dhar & Ning Zhu, 2006. "Up Close and Personal: Investor Sophistication and the Disposition Effect," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(5), pages 726-740, May.
    33. Burcu Duygan-Bump & Charles Grant, 2009. "Household debt repayment behaviour: what role do institutions play? [‘Welfare implications of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1999’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 24(57), pages 108-140.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bialowolski, Piotr & A.Makridis, Christos & Bradshaw, Matt & Bialowolska, Dorota Weziak & Gundersen, Craig & Le Pertel, Noémie & Gibson, Cristina & Jang, Sung Joon & Padgett, R. Noah & Johnson, Byron , 2025. "Analysis of demographic variation and childhood correlates of financial well-being across 22 countries," OSF Preprints 6cnem_v1, Center for Open Science.
    2. Fred van Raaij, W. & Riitsalu, Leonore & Põder, Kaire, 2023. "Direct and indirect effects of self-control and future time perspective on financial well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Osvaldo García-Mata & Mariana Zerón-Félix, 2022. "A review of the theoretical foundations of financial well-being," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(2), pages 145-176, June.
    4. Mahendru, Mandeep & Sharma, Gagan Deep & Pereira, Vijay & Gupta, Mansi & Mundi, Hardeep Singh, 2022. "Is it all about money honey? Analyzing and mapping financial well-being research and identifying future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 417-436.
    5. Ifra Bashir & Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, 2023. "A Systematic Literature Review on Personal Financial Well-Being: The Link to Key Sustainable Development Goals 2030," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(1), pages 31-48, March.
    6. Carole Comerton‐Forde & John de New & Nicolás Salamanca & David C. Ribar & Andrea Nicastro & James Ross, 2022. "Measuring Financial Wellbeing with Self‐Reported and Bank Record Data," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 98(321), pages 133-151, June.
    7. Pawan Ashok Kamble & Atul Mehta & Neelam Rani, 2024. "Financial Inclusion and Digital Financial Literacy: Do they Matter for Financial Well-being?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 777-807, February.
    8. Leonore Riitsalu & Rene Sulg & Henri Lindal & Marvi Remmik & Kristiina Vain, 2024. "From Security to Freedom— The Meaning of Financial Well-being Changes with Age," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 56-69, March.
    9. Noviarini, Jelita & Coleman, Andrew & Roberts, Helen & Whiting, Rosalind H., 2023. "Financial literacy and retirees' resource allocation decisions in New Zealand," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    10. Joe Gladstone & Jenna Adriana Maeve Barrett, 2023. "Understanding the functional form of the relationship between childhood cognitive ability and adult financial well-being," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(6), pages 1-34, June.
    11. Simonse, Olaf & Van Dijk, Wilco W. & Van Dillen, Lotte F. & Van Dijk, Eric, 2024. "Economic predictors of the subjective experience of financial stress," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    12. D’Hondt, Catherine & De Winne, Rudy & Merli, Maxime, 2021. "Do retail investors bite off more than they can chew? A close look at their return objectives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 879-902.
    13. Gagandeep Kaur & Manjit Singh & Sanjay Gupta, 2023. "Analysis of key factors influencing individual financial well-being using ISM and MICMAC approach," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1533-1559, April.
    14. Oscar A. Stolper & Andreas Walter, 2017. "Financial literacy, financial advice, and financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(5), pages 581-643, July.
    15. Sajid, Muhammad & Mushtaq, Rizwan & Murtaza, Ghulam & Yahiaoui, Dorra & Pereira, Vijay, 2024. "Financial literacy, confidence and well-being: The mediating role of financial behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    16. Long She & Lan Ma & Saeed Pahlevan Sharif & Sitara Karim, 2024. "Millennials’ financial behaviour and financial well-being: the moderating role of future orientation," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(4), pages 1207-1224, December.
    17. Yoon G. Lee & Emily Hales & Heather H. Kelley, 2023. "Financial Behaviors, Government Assistance, and Financial Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 85-103, February.
    18. Vieira, Kelmara Mendes & Potrich, Ani Caroline Grigion & Bressan, Aureliano Angel & Klein, Leander Luiz, 2021. "Loss of financial well-being in the COVID-19 pandemic: Does job stability make a difference?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    19. Schomburgk, Lachlan & Belli, Alex & Hoffmann, Arvid O.I., 2024. "Less cash, more splash? A meta-analysis on the cashless effect," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 382-403.
    20. Ifra Bashir & Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, 2023. "Analysing Literature on Financial Well-being: A Bibliometric Approach," Paradigm, , vol. 27(2), pages 111-135, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:9:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1038_s41562-025-02207-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.