“Because My Parents Say So”- Children's monetary decision making

The aim of this research is to understand children's monetary decision making. Using a qualitative approach, we interviewed 136 primary five students randomly selected from 6 primary schools in Singapore. In this brief report, we highlight several themes that emerged from our analysis which explains students’ decision making processes when money is concerned. We also found that parents are the main or only guidance to the students in understanding personal financial management. Such findings may have implications for subsequent instructional interventions to improve students’ financial literacy.