Wightman: Even higher-income families are reducing financial support for college-age children

A National Poverty Center study led by postdoctoral fellow Patrick Wightman found that 62 percent of children ages 19 to 22 receive some financial assistance from their parents. A recent article by Reuters examined the reasons the remaining 38 percent did not receive any.

According to the article, some parents do not have the discretionary income to pass on to their children, while others prefer for their children to be self-reliant. Wightman pointed out that the 2008 recession rendered even relatively well-off families unable to provide as much for their children as they had previously.

"We did three waves of interviews, ending in 2009," Wightman was quoted in the article. "Over the course of the recession we saw even higher-income families cutting back on their financial support."