The "sandwich generation," adults sandwiched between caring for their children while also supporting their aging parents, is growing. Pew Research estimates 23% of U.S. adults (more than half of adults in their 40s) are now members of this group, increasing their financial burdens and changing how they interact with financial products and services.
This is causing a massive shift in how Financial Services brands must adapt their services and approaches to meet these unique needs. If they fail to do so, they might lose a significant share of the market to a competitor with a more tailored offering.
Our client wanted to explore the financial relationships between adult caregivers and both their aging parents or college-aged children. They wanted to uncover opportunities to improve digital banking, saving, and investing experiences to best serve their customers in the sandwich generation with shifting financial needs.
AnswerLab designed a two-phase research study using a mixed-methods approach to tap into participants’ mental models and financial behaviors. First, we recruited two participant groups to explore financial relationships across multiple generations:
Participants took part in a remote diary study in which they tracked and documented how they were engaging with their family members around their finances. The diary provided a log of their activities, thoughts, frustrations, needs, expectations, and wants.
To build on the diary data, we followed up with in-home interviews. Participants were interviewed in familial pairs to gain deeper insight into the relationships we were exploring. The interviews not only validated some of the initial findings collected in the diary study but added additional depth to what we had already learned.
Through our research, we discovered that customers needed better money management solutions for their financially dependent family members. Without better tools for this specific use case, participants shared they practiced riskier behaviors, including sharing usernames and passwords to help with management solutions. The groups also shared a desire to learn more about specific financial topics.
As part of our solution, AnswerLab recommended a number of more tailored digital tools. These new offerings would allow customers to engage in financial activities while providing different levels of access privileges, such as read-only access to shared accounts and the ability to hand off control to another.
Additionally, we recommended they also include an educational element to help give customers more context around budgeting, managing another’s bank account, new terminology, and where to go for help to improve the experience.
Our research provided a solid understanding of the family dynamics regarding shared financial activity and identified needs and preferences to improve the experience moving forward. Ultimately, the findings provided a framework to develop a roadmap for product strategy to meet this increasing, complex market.