Money in one click: Inequalities in digital financial practices and digital Skills among emerging adults in Switzerland

Abstract

Although Internet is becoming a medium for all economic activities, inequalities in digital financial practices among youth have received little attention. Using a sample of emerging adults in Switzerland (18–29 years, N = 385), the latent class analysis used in this study offers a unique opportunity to identify different configurations of digital economic practices considering that online money consumption, management, and production are closely related. The analysis reveals four classes of digital economic practices that reflect different user profiles: Regular Consumers (60.5%), Occasional Consumers (20.8%), Moderate Managers (15.1%), and Active Users (3.6%). Class membership is associated with some of the sociodemographic characteristics as well as digital skills of emerging adults. Our findings suggest that prevention and financial education programs should be adapted to the different user profiles and focus more specifically on occasional digital financial users who come from less privileged backgrounds and have the fewest digital skills.