Briefing

How Much Financial Help Do People Give and Receive? Evidence from the Understanding America Survey


Abstract: The Understanding America Study has added a module recording the transfers that respondents have given to and/or received from their family and friends. The module includes information on financial transfers of wealth, along with in-kind transfers of services such as room and board or caregiving, and these variables can be linked to the broader UAS dataset. In this article, we describe and summarize the variables in the new module. The data indicate that transfers are widespread, usually small but sometimes substantial, and most commonly from parents to adult children.

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Description: Briefing

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Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Part of Series: Richmond Fed Economic Brief

Publication Date: 2026-06-18

Volume: 26

Issue: 19