Accessible Version
Informal Support Networks in the Survey of Consumer Finances, Accessible Data
Figure 1. Prevalence of Informal Financial/Caregiving (F/CG) Support Networks
| Percent of families | |
|---|---|
| Monetary support | 27.7 |
| Time support | 27.8 |
| Monetary or time support | 44.2 |
| Emergency support | 79.7 |
| Informal F/CG network | 85.4 |
Note: From left to right, bars display the percent of families that: actively provided or received monetary support (monetary support), actively provided or received time support (time support), actively provided or received monetary or time support (monetary or time support), could be relied on to give or could receive emergency financial support (emergency support), and is in any of these groups (informal F/CG network).
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (2026).
Figure 2. Participation in Informal Financial/Caregiving (F/CG) Support Networks by Wealth Decile
| Wealth Decile | Monetary or time support | Emergency support | No informal F/CG network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Bottom | 49.1 | 59.5 | 25.5 |
| 2 | 39.8 | 60.7 | 29.0 |
| 3 | 43.0 | 74.4 | 18.9 |
| 4 | 45.5 | 73.9 | 19.0 |
| 5 | 41.5 | 79.4 | 15.2 |
| 6 | 39.8 | 84.9 | 10.1 |
| 7 | 45.3 | 89.3 | 8.2 |
| 8 | 47.2 | 88.3 | 9.5 |
| 9 | 43.5 | 92.8 | 5.5 |
| 10 Top | 46.9 | 93.4 | 5.2 |
Note: Bars display the percent of families within each wealth decile that actively provided or received support (purple bars), could be relied on to give or could receive emergency financial support (black bars), or are not part of an informal F/CG network (red bars). Families that are not part of an informal F/CG network respond negatively to all informal network questions in the survey. The legend from top to bottom identifies bars within each wealth decile from left to right.
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (2026).
Figure 3. Roles within Informal Financial/Caregiving (F/CG) Support Networks by Wealth Decile
| Wealth Decile | Provides time | Receives time | Provides money | Receives money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Bottom | 41.6 | 24.8 | 37.8 | 41.7 |
| 2 | 40.1 | 25.1 | 32.3 | 38.7 |
| 3 | 42.8 | 17.8 | 37.4 | 37.9 |
| 4 | 43.7 | 24.7 | 38.0 | 27.5 |
| 5 | 52.3 | 14.4 | 45.2 | 19.6 |
| 6 | 65.8 | 20.1 | 46.7 | 12.2 |
| 7 | 55.0 | 21.8 | 51.1 | 9.2 |
| 8 | 57.1 | 15.1 | 52.5 | 9.7 |
| 9 | 52.6 | 11.4 | 61.0 | 4.9 |
| 10 Top | 50.5 | 8.1 | 62.7 | 1.4 |
Note: Figure displays the percent of families that actively provided or received informal F/CG support within each wealth decile, separately showing the percent that provided time support, received time support, provided monetary support, and received monetary support. Solid lines indicate provision, and dashed lines indicate receipt. Thin blue lines indicate time support, and thick pink lines indicate monetary support.
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (2026).