Exchanges of assistance among kin are a common and important source of support for families; however, people are often hesitant to seek such assistance and broader economic contexts influence these exchange relationships. Existing studies overlook the potential role of credit cards in shaping exchanges of assistance among kin, which is surprising given the potential for credit to serve as a substitute for assistance from kin and the potential for credit to shape the economic contexts that influence exchange decisions. Drawing on social exchange theories and data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we find that having a credit card is associated with a decreased likelihood of borrowing money from close social ties and that this relationship is conditional on marital status and income. These findings contribute to understandings of how exchanges of support are shaped by economic contexts and suggest the need for further research on how credit influences exchanges of assistance among family and friends.

亲属之间的互助互助是家庭获得支持的共同而重要的来源；但是，人们常常不愿寻求这种帮助，更广泛的经济环境影响着这些交换关系。现有研究忽略了信用卡在形成亲属之间的协助交换中的潜在作用，这令人惊讶，因为信用有可能替代亲属提供的援助，而信用有可能影响到影响交换决定的经济环境。根据脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究的社会交换理论和数据，我们发现拥有信用卡与从亲密的社会关系借钱的可能性降低有关，并且这种关系取决于婚姻状况和收入。