Many of us struggle when it comes to asking for financial help, but why is this?
It Starts with Childhood
Research from Stanford doctoral student, Kayla Good, found that from as early as age 7, children associate asking for help with coming across as incompetent. Therefore, from a very young age, many of us start to view asking for help as a negative thing which means we are ‘lesser than’ someone else.
This stigma around asking for help begins in childhood with many of us then applying it to our financial situations when we get older, i.e, asking for financial help becomes taboo.
We Need to Talk About Money
The image below is taken from research conducted by Hodge in 2020 into the finances of over 3,000 people:
As you can see, many respondents stated that they found asking for financial help from family difficult or embarrassing, but why is this?
Many of us find it hard to ask for financial help because we aren’t used to having any kind of open or honest conversations about money. We talk in more detail about why talking about money is so important here, but one of the reasons is that it removes the stigma around these types of conversations, helping to reduce any discomfort or fear.
In fact, a lot of our hesitancy when it comes to talking about money all boils down to fear:
- Fear of judgement
- Fear of rejection
- Fear of being a burden
- Fear of not being in control
- Fear of feeling inferior
By talking about money, especially by starting these conversations from a young age, we can help reduce this fear and feel much more comfortable when it comes to asking for help.
Getting Financial Help
A good place to start with getting the financial help you need is by starting a conversation about it with a trusted friend or family member. You can also use the following links for help from organisations regarding various financial difficulties: