Evaluating the Wesley Mission - financial capability · Evaluating the Wesley Mission In charge of my money financial literacy program for vulnerable populations. Sydney: Wesley Mission

Evaluating the Wesley Mission In charge of my money

financial literacy program for vulnerable populations

This publication was made possible by a grant from Financial Literacy Australia

How to cite this publication:

Zanoni, L., Warburton, W., Russell, R., Warburton, M., & Flynn, L. (2016). Evaluating the Wesley Mission In charge of my money financial literacy program for vulnerable populations. Sydney: Wesley Mission

Team involved in this project:

Dr Wayne Warburton, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University

Ms Maisie Warburton, Program Manager Financial Literacy Education, Wesley Training

Ms Lynne Flynn, Financial Literacy Educator and Financial Counsellor, Wesley Financial Literacy Program, Wesley Training

Professor Roslyn Russell, School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, College of Business RMIT University

Dr Lee Zanoni, Researcher, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University

Published in September 2016 by Wesley Mission, Sydney, Australia

© Copyright Wesley Mission, Macquarie University, RMIT University 2016 www.wesleymission.org.au 1800 676 039

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Table of Contents

ExecutiveSummary........................................................................................................................................8

KeyFindings...............................................................................................................................................9

Istheprogramcontentrelevantandevidence-based?.........................................................................9

Doestheprogramfacilitatesustainedimprovementinfinancialbehaviours?...................................10

Howmuchknowledgeandunderstandingdidparticipantsretainseveralmonthsaftertheprogram?.............................................................................................................................................................11

Didtextmessageremindersincreasethechanceofsustainedchangeinfinancialbehaviours?.......11

Conclusion............................................................................................................................................12

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................13

ProgramEvaluationBackground..............................................................................................................13

ProgramEvaluationDescription&Aims..................................................................................................13

LiteratureReview.........................................................................................................................................16

Bestpracticeforfinancialliteracyprogramstargetedatvulnerablepopulations...................................16

Istheprogramcontentrelevantandevidence-based?...........................................................................22

Deliveredbytherightpeople..............................................................................................................24

Deliveredattherighttime...................................................................................................................25

Adheretoprinciplesofadultlearning.................................................................................................25

Empowerment&self-efficacy..............................................................................................................27

Conclusion............................................................................................................................................28

UsingTextMessagestoSupportImprovementsinFinancialLiteracy.....................................................28

Conclusion............................................................................................................................................38

TheInChargeofMyMoneyProgram..........................................................................................................39

ProgramBackground................................................................................................................................39

ProgramDescription................................................................................................................................42

InChargeofMyMoneyProgramEvaluation...............................................................................................46

GoalsoftheStudy,KeyFactors&OutcomeMeasures...........................................................................46

ParticipantDemographics........................................................................................................................48

ProgramEvaluationResearchMethodology................................................................................................53

Procedure.................................................................................................................................................53

Attheendoftheprogram(Time1).....................................................................................................53

Several(5-7)monthsaftertheprogram(Time2)................................................................................54

Questionnaires.........................................................................................................................................57

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DataAnalysis............................................................................................................................................59

ProgramEvaluationResults.........................................................................................................................60

ParticipantEngagementwiththeProgram..............................................................................................60

Reasonforattendingtheprogram......................................................................................................60

Mainmoneyissue................................................................................................................................61

Levelofmotivation..............................................................................................................................62

Programattendance............................................................................................................................62

ParticipantFeedbackontheProgram......................................................................................................63

Programratingattheendoftheprogram..........................................................................................63

Recommendingtheprogramtofriends...............................................................................................65

Suggestedareasforimprovement.......................................................................................................68

WhatParticipantsRemembered5-7MonthsAftertheProgram............................................................70

ImprovementinFinancialBehaviours......................................................................................................76

Wasthereevidenceofimprovedfinancialbehavioursforprogramparticipantsimmediatelyafterand5monthsaftertheprogram?........................................................................................................78

Whatdothestatisticsshow?...................................................................................................................79

IdentifyingandAchievingFinancialGoals................................................................................................80

Settinggoals.........................................................................................................................................80

Whatwereparticipant’sgoals?...........................................................................................................81

Didtheprogramhelpparticipantsachievetheirfinancialgoals?........................................................82

Whathelpedparticipantsachievetheirgoalsthemost?....................................................................82

Towhatextentdidparticipantsachievethespecificgoaltheyidentifiedduringtheprogram?........86

ImprovementinFinancialKnowledge,Attitudes,Self-EfficacyandEmotionalSpending........................88

Wasthereevidenceofimprovedgeneralandpersonalfinancialknowledgeforprogramparticipantsimmediatelyafterandfive-sevenmonthsaftertheprogram?..........................................................89

Wasthereevidenceofimprovedfinancialattitudesandfinancialself-efficacy,andlessemotionalspending,forprogramparticipantsimmediatelyafterandfivemonthsaftertheprogram?.............90

Participants’FinancialStrain....................................................................................................................94

Wasthereevidenceoffewerproblemsduetoashortageofmoneyfrombeforetheprogramto5-7monthslater?.......................................................................................................................................94

Wasthereevidenceofreduceddebt5-7monthsaftertheprogram?................................................96

Didparticipantsfeellessstressedabouttheirfuturesincedoingthisprogram?...............................96

Wastheregreaterfinancialinclusionforparticipantsseveralmonthsaftertheprogram?................97

Didmoreparticipantshavemoneysetasideforemergencies?..........................................................99

Wasthereachangeinparticipants’financialresilience?....................................................................99

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Wasthereimprovementinotherindicatorsoffinancialstrain?.......................................................101

ParticipantFactorsMostRelatedtoImprovementsinFinancialBehavioursandStrain.......................104

Improvementinattitude...................................................................................................................105

Improvementinfinancialself-efficacy...............................................................................................105

Programengagement........................................................................................................................106

General&personalfinancialknowledge...........................................................................................106

Emotionalspending...........................................................................................................................107

Participantfactorsnotassociatedwithimprovementinfinancialbehavioursorfinancialstrain.....107

Themostpredictiveparticipantfactors.............................................................................................108

TheEffectivenessofTextMessageNudges...............................................................................................110

Methodology..........................................................................................................................................110

Participants........................................................................................................................................110

Procedure...........................................................................................................................................111

Textmessagedelivery........................................................................................................................111

Textmessagewording.......................................................................................................................111

Measures...........................................................................................................................................113

Examiningtheeffectsoftextmessagesonchangeinbehaviours.....................................................114

TextMessagingResults..........................................................................................................................115

Whatthestatisticsshow........................................................................................................................117

Pearson’scorrelations.......................................................................................................................120

SummaryofResultsandImplications........................................................................................................121

Istheprogramcontentrelevantandevidence-based?.........................................................................121

Isthereevidencethattheprogramfacilitatessustainedimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours?.......126

Isthereevidenceofknowledgeandunderstandingretentionafterseveralmonths?..........................126

Didtextmessagenudgesincreasethechanceofsustainedchangeinfinancialbehaviours?...............127

AdditionalFindings:ImprovementsinAttitudes,Self-Efficacy,EmotionalSpending,andfinancialStrain...............................................................................................................................................................128

AdditionalFindings:ParticipantFactorsThatWereNotAssociatedwithOutcomes............................130

Discussion...................................................................................................................................................132

LimitationsoftheStudy.........................................................................................................................132

Futureresearch......................................................................................................................................133

Conclusion..............................................................................................................................................134

References..................................................................................................................................................135

Appendices.................................................................................................................................................139

Appendix1.............................................................................................................................................139

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Appendix2.............................................................................................................................................140

Appendix3.............................................................................................................................................141

Appendix4.............................................................................................................................................142

Appendix5.............................................................................................................................................143

Appendix6.............................................................................................................................................144

ListofTables

Table1:Participantdemographics...............................................................................................................49Table2:Reasonswhyparticipantsattendedtheprogram..........................................................................61Table3:Numberofworkshopsattendedbyparticipants(dosage).............................................................63Table4:Whichpartsoftheprogramneedtobeimproved?.......................................................................68Table5:Evidenceofimprovedfinancialbehaviours5monthspostprogram.............................................78Table6:Wastheresignificantimprovementovertime?.............................................................................89Table7:Wastheresignificantimprovementinparticipants'financialattitudesovertime?......................91Table8:Wastheresignificantimprovementinparticipants'financialself-efficacyovertime?..................92Table9:Wastheresignificantimprovementinparticipants'emotionalspendingovertime?...................93Table10:Wasthereasignificantreductioninthenumberofissuesduetoshortageofmoneyovertime?......................................................................................................................................................................95Table11:Wastheresignificantimprovementinfinancialinclusionovertime?.........................................98Table12:Wastheresignificantimprovementsseeminindicatorsoffinancialstrain?.............................103Table13:Theeffectsoftextmessagesonchangeinbehaviour................................................................115

ListofFigures

Figure1:Knowit,understandit,doit,reviewitmodeloflearning.............................................................44Figure2:Ageofparticipants........................................................................................................................50Figure3:Participants'highestlevelofeducation........................................................................................51Figure4:Annualincomeofparticipants......................................................................................................51Figure5:Issuesaddressedbycentrewhereprogramwasdelivered..........................................................52Figure6:Whatwasthemainmoneyissueyouhopedthisprogramwouldhelp?......................................61Figure7:Participants'levelofmotivationduringtheprogram...................................................................62Figure8:Outof10,howwouldyouratethisprogram?..............................................................................63Figure9:Whydidyougivetheprogramthatrating?..................................................................................65Figure10:It'sbeen5monthssinceyoudidtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram.Whatdoyourememberfromtheprogram?.......................................................................................................................................71Figure11:Changestomoneybehavioursacrossthethreemeasuredtimepoints.....................................79Figure12:Participantgoalsettingbeforeandaftertheprogram...............................................................80Figure13:Howmuchdidthisprogramhelpyouachieveyourfinancialgoals?..........................................82Figure14:Whatpartoftheprogramhelpedyoutoachieveyourgoalthemost?......................................83Figure15:Onascalefrom1-10,towhatextenthaveyoumadeprogresstowardsthefinancialgoalthatyouhadattheendoftheprogram?............................................................................................................87Figure16:Levelsoftotal(combinedgeneralandpersonal)financialknowledgeacrossthethreemeasuredtimepoints..................................................................................................................................90

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Figure17:Inthepast5months,didanyofthefollowinghappentoyoubecauseofashortageofmoney?......................................................................................................................................................................95Figure18:Overthepastfewmonths,hasyourlevelofdebtincreased,decreasedorstayedthesame?..96Figure19:Doyoufeellessstressedaboutthefuturesincedoingthisprogram?.......................................97Figure20:Doyouhaveanyofthefollowingtypesoffinanceproducts?....................................................98Figure21:Ifyouhad1weektoraise$1000foranunexpectedexpense,howwouldyouraisethemoney?....................................................................................................................................................................101Figure22:Ifyouwerereceivingregularremindertextmessages,howusefuldidyoufindthetextmessage?....................................................................................................................................................114Figure23:Changestomoneybehavioursovertimebytextmessage'nudge'group................................116Figure24:Changestoemotionalspendingovertimebytextmessage'nudge'group..............................116

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Executive Summary

InresponsetoWesleyMission’s2010thirdfinancialstressreport(WesleyMission,2010),

WesleyMissiondevelopedandlauncheditsfinancialliteracyProgramInChargeofMy

Money,targetedatvulnerablepopulations,in2011.Thisreportdetailsthefirstevaluation

oftheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram,whichwasconductedbyMacquarieUniversityand

fundedbyFinancialLiteracyAustralia.Inadditiontoexaminingtheeffectivenessofthe

program,thisresearchalsoexploredtheusefulnessoftextmessagereminders(‘nudges’)

aftertheprogram.

Thefourmaingoalsoftheprojectwereto:

- Ensuretheprogramcontentisrelevantandevidence-based;

- Identifywhethertheprogramfacilitatessustainedimprovementinfinancial

behaviours;

- Estimatechangestoparticipantfinancialknowledgeandunderstandingattheendof

theprogram,andestimatetheirretentionafterseveralmonths;

- Ascertainhowincorporatingapracticalstrategy,suchastextmessagereminders,

increasesthechanceofsustainedchange.

Thisprogramevaluationemployedamixedmethodapproach,collectingbothquantitative

andqualitativedata.Participantsweresurveyedtwice-Time1wasimmediatelyafterthe

programandTime2wasapproximatelyfivetosevenmonthslater.TheTime1sample

included113participantsandtheTime2sampleincluded54participants.Studyparticipants

weredrawnfrom11differentnot-for-profitservicesinSydneyandsurroundingregions

addressingdrug,alcoholandgamblingaddictions,homelessness,orfamilydysfunction.

Theseparticipants,onaverage,hadverylowincomes,withgovernmentsupportbeingthe

mainsourceofincomefor85%.Textmessagesaffirmingpositivemoneybehaviourswere

sentevery3-4weekstohalftheparticipantstotestifreminders(a‘nudge’intervention)

hadanimpactonthefinancialbehavioursofparticipants.

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Key Findings

Is the program content relevant and evidence-based?

ThisevaluationfoundbothquantitativeandqualitativeevidencethattheInChargeofMy

Moneyprogramcontentanddeliveryisrelevantforsomeofthemostsociallyand

economicallydisadvantagedandvulnerablepeoplewithintheAustralianpopulation.More

specifically:

• Immediatelyaftertheprogram,participantsratedtheInChargeofMyMoney

programveryhighlyandhadfewcomplaints.

• Whenaskedseveralmonthslateriftheywouldrecommendtheprogramtotheir

friends,themajority(85%)saidtheywouldrecommenditbecauseitwaseasyto

understand,relevant,andhelpful.Thissuggeststhattheparticipants’highopinionof

theusefulnessandrelevanceoftheprogramimmediatelyaftertheprogramdidnot

declineovertime.

Theevaluationalsofoundthattheprogramisevidence-based,conformingtowhathasbeen

identifiedasbestpracticeintheliteraturetodate.Tentativebestpracticeforfinancial

literacyprogramstargetedatvulnerablepopulationsinvolvestailoringthecontentand

deliverystyletotheparticularaudience,havingtheprogramdeliveredbytrainerswhoare

knowledgeableandnon-judgemental,providingtheprogramatanopportunetime,

adheringtotheprinciplesofadultlearning,andempoweringprogramattendees.TheIn

ChargeofMyMoneyprogramisconsistentwithmostoftheseguidelinesforbestpractice:

• ThecontentanddeliverystyleoftheprogramistailoredtotheneedsofWesley

Missionclients.

• Appropriatepracticalexamplesareusedduringthepresentation,andinformationis

oftenpresentedaseasytoremember“rulesofthumb”.

• Thereisanemphasisonteachinggoodmoneymanagementskillsandhabits,rather

thanjustimpartingknowledge.

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• ThelanguageoftheprogrammaterialsissuitableforYear10levelofliteracy,to

ensureitisunderstandablebythosewithrelativelylowlevelsofliteracy.

• InthisstudytheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramwasdeliveredbywell-trained,very

financiallyliterate,non-judgementalstaff.Feedbackfromstudyparticipantsshows

thattheyfoundthepresenterstobeknowledgeable,abletoanswertheirquestions,

helpfulandempathic.

• Theprogramisdeliveredwhilstparticipantsareengagedinaservice(e.g.seeking

employmentorhousingorotherservices),thusmakingthemostofwhatcouldbe

considered‘teachablemoments’intheirlife.

• TheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramincorporatedtheprinciplesofadulteducation

intoitsdesign,givingprogramattendeesguidanceratherthaninstruction,

encouragingquestionsanddiscussion,andincludingworksheetstoactivelyengage

attendees.

Does the program facilitate sustained improvement in financial

behaviours?

TherewasevidencethattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramfacilitatedsustained

improvementsinfinancialbehaviours.Statisticalanalysesrevealedasubstantial

improvementinfinancialbehavioursfrombeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthsafterthe

program.Therewassustainedimprovementoverseveralmonthsin:

• savingbehaviour;

• planningbehaviour;

• monitoringofexpenses;and,

• othermoneybehaviours(e.g.comparingpricestogetthebestdeal,notbuying

thingsifunabletoaffordthem).

Togiveoneexample,overhalfofstudyparticipantssaidthattheprogramhelpedthem

achievetheirfinancialgoals‘alot’or‘verymuch’,andonly11%saiditdidnothelpatall,

indicatingthatmostparticipantsbelievedthattheprogramassistedtheminpracticalways

severalmonthsaftertheprogram.

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How much knowledge and understanding did participants retain

several months after the program?

Therewasevidenceofretentionofknowledgeandunderstandingseveralmonthsafterthe

program.Infact,averylarge,statisticallysignificantimprovementwasfoundinboth

generalfinancialknowledgeandpersonalfinancialknowledge(knowledgeaboutone’sown

financialcircumstances)frombeforetheprogramtoimmediatelyaftertheprogram.These

gainswerestillapparent5-7monthsaftertheprogram,demonstratingthatstudy

participantsretainedmostoftheknowledgetheyhadlearntintheprogramoverseveral

months.

Whenaskedtodescribewhattheyrememberedabouttheprogram5-7monthslater:

• asubstantialproportionofparticipantsrememberedspecificcatchphrases,suchas

“payyourselffirst”;

• justoveraquarterofparticipantsrecalledinformationaboutthedifferenttypesof

loansandhowtomanagedebt;

• approximatelyonequarterrememberedspecificadviceaboutbeingmindfulof

spendinghabits;and,

• onlysixparticipantsreportedrememberinglittleornothingfromtheprogram.

Consideringthatover50%ofparticipantswerelivinginresidentialrehabilitationcentresat

thetimeofcompletingtheprogram,thishighlevelofknowledgeretentionfromthe

programisquiteimpressive.

Did text message reminders increase the chance of sustained change

in financial behaviours?

Sendingeffectivetextmessagenudgesinthispopulationwaschallengingbecausesome

participantsdidnothavereliablemobilephoneaccess.Duringthetrialonly65%oftext

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messageswereactuallyreceivedbyparticipantsinthe‘nudge’group.Threeparticipants

optedout.Thisreducedthe‘dosage’oftheinterventionforsomeparticipantsandresulted

inaslightlysmallerinterventiongroup.

Despitetheseissues,whichwouldhavetendedtoreducetheimpactofthetextmessage

intervention,textmessagenudgesstillhadasignificantandpositiveimpactonparticipants’

financialbehaviours(i.e.,onmoneybehaviour,saving,monitoringofexpensesand

emotionalspending).However,thesebenefitsdidnotextendtoalloutcomes.Textmessage

nudgesdidnothaveanyeffectonparticipants’financialstrain,orhelpparticipantsachieve

theirgoalsorreducetheirdebt.Giventhedifficultiesencounteredusingthenudge

interventioninthispopulation,furtherstudiesshouldattempttoreplicatetheseresultsina

larger,similarpopulation.

Conclusion

ThisprogramevaluationfoundevidencethattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramis

relevantandevidence-based,doesfacilitatesustainedimprovementinfinancialbehaviours,

anddoesproducestrongretentionoffinancialknowledgeandunderstandingforpeople

facingvulnerabilitiesincludingdrug,alcoholandgamblingaddictions,homelessness,and

familystrain.Thisstudyalsofoundtextmessagenudgesmayincreasethechanceof

sustainedchangeinfinancialbehavioursaftertheprogram,butthisfindingneedstobe

replicatedwithalargersample.

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Introduction

Program Evaluation Background

WesleyMissionhascaredforthemarginalisedandvulnerablefor150years,andforthe

past30yearshasdeliveredfinancialcounsellingservices.Forexample,in2014-2015,

WesleyCounsellingServicesprovidedfinancialcounsellingsupportfor1,339people(Wesley

Mission,2015).In2011,WesleyMissiondevelopedafinancialliteracyprogramto

complementitsfinancialcounsellingprogram.Financialliteracyisdefinedhereasthe

developmentofknowledge,understandingandskillsthatassistindividualstomake

informedjudgementsandtotakeeffectivedecisionsregardingtheuseandmanagementof

money(WesleyMission,2010).WesleyMission’sfinancialliteracyprogram,called“In

ChargeofMyMoney”,wonaMoneySmartawardin2013andhasbeendeliveredtoover

4,000peoplesinceitsinceptioninAugust2011(WesleyMission,2016b).

AlthoughprogramparticipantshavereportedpositiveoutcomesinWesleyMission’s

evaluationquestionnairesprovidedattheendofeachsessionoftheprogram,the

program’sefficacyhasnotbeentestedempirically.Theprincipalaimofthisprojectwasto

evaluatetheeffectivenessoftheInChangeofMyMoneyprograminvulnerable

populations,intermsofsustainedpositivechangesinfinancialbehaviourandknowledge

retentioninparticipants.

ThisprogramevaluationwasfundedbyFinancialLiteracyAustralia.

Program Evaluation Description & Aims

AnexternalevaluatorfromMacquarieUniversity,Sydney,wasengagedtoindependently

evaluatetheeffectivenessoftheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramasafinancialliteracy

educationalresource.MacquarieUniversityresearcherscollaboratedwithWesleyMission

financialliteracyprogramadvisorsandanacademicexpertinthefieldfromRMITUniversity

14

inMelbourne,todeveloptwoquestionnaires.Thefirstquestionnairewaspersonally

administeredbyoneoftheMacquarieUniversityresearchersto128programattendeesat

theendofthelastsessionoftheprogramat18programdeliverycentres–NGOsfrom

MetropolitanSydneyorregionalcentreswithina300kmradiusoftheSydneyCBDthat

assistpeoplewithdrug,alcoholorgamblingaddictions,orprovidesupportforthehomeless

orforat-riskfamilies.Betweenfivetosevenmonthsaftertheprogram,thesameresearcher

attemptedtocontactallinitialstudyparticipants,bytelephoneoremail,askingthemto

completeasecondquestionnaireverysimilartothefirst.Sixty-threeparticipantscompleted

thesecondquestionnaire.

InadditiontotheprimarygoalofevaluatingtheeffectivenessoftheInChargeofMyMoney

programinvulnerablepopulations,thisprojectexploredthelinksbetweenvarious

participantfactorsandchangesinfinancialbehaviours,knowledgeandattidudes,inan

attempttoidentifythereasonswhytheprogrammighthaveanimpact.Furthermore,

participantswereaskedhowtheythoughttheprogramcouldbeimproved,sothatWesley

Missioncanrefinetheprogramtobettermeettheneedsoftheirtargetaudience.

Participants’feedbackonwhattheythoughtwasmosthelpfulabouttheprogramandwhat

theyrememberedfromitseveralmonthslateralsoprovidesusefulinformationregarding

theaspectsoftheprogramthatweremostrelevanttothesevulnerablepopulations.Finally,

theprojectinvestigatedwhetherornotregulartextmessagereminders,alsoreferredtoas

“nudges”,wouldincreasethechanceoflong-termimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours.

Theoutcomesofthisprojectareintendedtoassistthelong-termsustainabilityoffinancial

literacyeducationforvulnerablepopulations.Itishopedthatthelearningswillalsobe

relevanttootherfinancialliteracyprogramstargetingawideraudience.Thisprojectmay

alsoassistthefinancialliteracysectorthroughincreasedaccesstoevidence-basedfinancial

literacyeducationalmaterials.

Thisreportwillcoverthefollowing:

• Aliteraturereviewofbestpracticeforfinancialliteracyprogramstargetedat

vulnerablepopulations.

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• Areviewofhowtextmessagenudgesmaybeabletosupportimprovementsin

financialbehaviour.

• ThebackgroundanddescriptionoftheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram.

• TheaimsoftheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramevaluation,keyfactorsand

outcomes,andtheparticipants’demographics.

• Theprogramevaluationresearchmethodology.

• Theresultsfromtheprogramevaluation,includingparticipants’engagement

with,feedbackon,andknowledgeretentionfrom,theprogram.

• Changeinfinancialbehaviours,knowledge,attitudes,self-efficacyandemotional

spending,severalmonthsaftertheprogram.

• Theeffectivenessoftextmessagenudges.

• Asummaryofthekeyfindingsfromtheprojectandtheirimplications.

• Thelimitationsofthestudy.

• Suggestionsforfutureresearch.

• Conclusion.

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Literature Review

Best practice for financial literacy programs targeted at

vulnerable populations

Onlyadecadeagotherewaslimitedinterestinthetopicoffinancialliteracy(Miller,

Reichelstein,Salas,&Zia,2014).Now,however,thereareinitiativestoincreasefinancial

literacylevelsworld-wide(Blue&Brimble,2014).Financialliteracycanbedefinedasa

combinationofawareness,knowledge,skills,attitudes,andbehavioursnecessaryto

effectivelymanageone’smoneyandmakesoundfinancialdecisions(Atkinson&Messy,

2011;Collins&Holden,2014).Financialliteracy,therefore,isnotsimplyaboutknowledge

andunderstanding,butimpliestheabilitytotranslatefinancialknowledgeintoeffective

financialdecisionsandbehaviours(Collins&Holden,2014;ConsumerFinancialProtection

Bureau,2015).Theneedforindividualstohavegreaterfinancialliteracyhasgrownfora

numberofreasons.First,therehasbeenashiftinmanydevelopedcountriesfromstateto

individualresponsibilitytoprovideadequateresourcesforoldageandtoprovidefinancial

securityduringsickness,disabilityorunemployment(Atkinson,McKay,Collard,&Kempson,

2007).Furthermore,financialproductsandmarketshavebecomeincreasinglycomplex,and

therehasbeenwidespreadgrowthofalternativeandpredatoryfinancialservices(Blue&

Brimble,2014).Inaddition,thereisevidenceoflowlevelsoffinancialliteracyglobally

(Brimble&Blue,2013).

Althoughfinancialliteracyfocusesonindividualresponsibilitytouseresourceseffectively,it

isimportanttorememberthataperson’sfinancialwell-beingisnotsolelydeterminedby

theirabilitytomanagetheirmoneyandmakesoundfinancialdecisions.Financialwell-being

canbedefinedashavingcontroloverday-to-dayfinances,havingthecapacitytoabsorba

financialshock,trackingtomeetone’sfinancialgoals,andhavingthefinancialfreedomto

makechoicesthatallowapersontoenjoylife(ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau,

2015).Therearemanyfactorsbeyondanindividual’scontrolinachievingfinancialwell-

being,suchastheglobalandnationaleconomicenvironment,familywealthand

17

connections,accesstoeducation,income,andgeographiclocation.Thesefactorscreatea

contextthateitherprovidesorlimitsanindividual’sopportunitiestoputtheirfinancial

literacyintopractice(ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau,2015).Therefore,thegoalof

financialliteracyeducationistohelppeoplemakethebestoftheirsituationgiventheir

currentfinancialcircumstances(ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau,2015).Promoting

financialliteracyisnotintendedtoimplythatindividualsarecompletelyresponsiblefor

theirownfinancialsituations,orthatfinancialliteracycaneliminatepoverty,sincesomuch

isoutsidethecontrolofindividuals.Inthismonetisedsociety,financialliteracyeducation

shouldbeseenasabasicright,liketherighttobasicliteracyandnumeracyeducation,so

thateveryonehastheknowledgeandskillstoactintheirbestfinancialinterests,giventheir

backgroundandcontext(Johnson&Sherraden,2007).

Australiareflectstheworld-widephenomenonoftherecognitionoflowlevelsoffinancial

literacyinthegeneralpopulationandtheneedtoimprovefinancialliteracylevels.The

AustralianandNewZealandBank(ANZ)surveysfrom2003and2010showedthatthereisa

substantialdeficiencyintheleveloffinancialliteracyamongstmanyAustralians(Taylor&

Wagland,2013).The“FinancialResilienceinAustralia2015”report,basedona

representativesampleofalmost1,500Australians,foundthatalmosthalfofthepopulation

(48%)reportedthattheyonlyhavea‘basicunderstanding’offinancialproductsandservices

andmorethan9%reportedthattheyhad‘nounderstanding’(Muiretal.,2016).Recent

Australiansocialpolicyhasprioritisedfinancialliteracy,withafocusonmoneymanagement

education,asawaytoaddressfinancialstressandover-indebtedness(Brackertz,2014).The

FinancialLiteracyTaskforceandtheFinancialLiteracyFoundationwereestablishedin2004,

andin2011theNationalFinancialLiteracyStrategywasreleasedbythegovernment

regulator,AustralianSecuritiesandInvestmentsCommission(ASIC)(Brackertz,2014).

AkeystrategytoimprovelowlevelsoffinancialliteracyinAustraliaandworld-wideis

throughadultfinancialliteracyprograms.Theseprogramsusuallyaddresspersonalfinance

topicssuchasbudgeting,saving,andcreditmanagement(Collins&O'Rourke,2012;Fox&

Bartholomae,2008).Financialeducationforadultsisusuallydeliveredthroughcommunity

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oremployerbasedprogramsthatprovideattendeeswithinformation,ontheassumption

thatthisknowledgewillresultinimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours(Collins&Holden,

2014).Althoughtherehasbeenaproliferationoffinancialliteracyprograms,workshops,

andseminars,littleresearchhasmeasuredtheimpactandusefulnessoftheseprograms

(Milleretal.,2014;Vyvyan,Blue,&Brimble,2014).Therearefewfinancialliteracy

programsthathavebeenevaluatedwithrobustresearchdesignsthatdemonstrateifand

howimprovedfinancialknowledgeinfluencesfinancialbehaviourslaterinlife,witha

paucityofstudiesmeasuringbehaviouralchangesoveraperiodoftime(Collins&Holden,

2014).Positivecorrelationshavebeenfoundbetweenfinancialknowledgeandfinancial

practices,butverylittleresearchhasbeenconductedusingexperimentaldesignsthatprove

thatthealteredbehaviourshavebeencausedbytheprogramandnootherfactors(Collins

&Holden,2014;Schuchardtetal.,2009).Inaddition,theliteraturesuggeststhatcombining

financialeducationwithaccesstoappropriatefinancialproductsandservicesisthemost

effectivewaytohelppeopleachievefinancialwell-being(Birkenmaier&Maynard,2016).

Withoutaccesstofinancialproducts,andwithouttheopportunitytosaveduetolowor

unpredictabledisposableincome,theabilityoffinancialliteracyprogramstoproduce

greaterfinancialsecurityislimited(Birkenmaier&Maynard,2016;Kempson&Finney,

2009).

Ofthefinancialliteracyprogramevaluationsthathavebeenconducted,notallhave

demonstratedprogrameffectiveness.Evenprogramsthatarepopularandappeartobe

helpfulmaybefoundtohavenoeffect,orinsufficienteffect,tojustifytheexpenditureof

resources,whentested(Reich&Berman,2015).Ameta-analysisoftheliteraturefoundthat

morethan140ofthe188studiesindicatedthatfinancialeducationcanbehelpfulin

improvingfinancialoutcomes.However,approximately40ofthestudiescitedeitherno

impactoronlyamodestimpactfromtheinterventionthatmaynotbejustifiedrelativeto

thecostoftheprogram(Milleretal.,2014).Thismeta-analysisconcludedthatfinancial

educationcanconsistentlyimprovesomeoutcomes,suchassavingsandrecordkeeping

behaviour,butdoeslesswellinpreventingoutcomessuchasloandefault(Milleretal.,

2014).Anothermeta-analysisshowedthatstudiestendtooverstatetheeffectsoffinancial

19

educationonsubsequentbehaviour,withonly0.1%ofthevarianceinfinancialbehaviour

beingattributabletofinancialeducationinterventions(Fernandes,Lynch,&Netemeyer,

2014).Therefore,therearemajorchallengestodrawingconclusionsabouttheeffectiveness

offinancialliteracyeducationanditremainsunclearifandhowincreasedfinancial

knowledgetranslatesintomorepositivefinancialbehaviours(Collins&Holden,2014;Fox,

Bartholomae,&Trombitas,2012;Schuchardtetal.,2009).TheOECDconcludedin2013that

thereisapossiblecausallinkbetweenfinancialeducationandoutcomes,andthatimproved

levelsoffinancialliteracycanleadtopositivebehaviourchange[italicsadded](Brimble&

Blue,2013).

Financialliteracyeducationisbelievedtobeparticularlyimportantforlow-income

populations.Thisisnottosay,however,thathouseholdslivingonlow-incomesare

responsibleforthefinancialhardshiptheyexperience.Indeed,ithasbeensuggestedthat

thefocusofpoliciesshouldbetodirectlyaddresssocietalinequalityratherthanfocusingon

thefinancialincompetenceofthepoor(Johnson&Sherraden,2007).

Asdiscussedpreviously,manyfactorscontributingtofinancialwell-beingareoutsidean

individual’scontrol,limitingtheiropportunitiestobecomefinanciallysecure,despitetheir

leveloffinancialliteracy.Higherincomeandeducationarelikelytoprotectindividuals

againstseverefinancialproblemssincetheyprovideabufferandgreateroptionsintimesof

economicdownturnorpersonaldifficulties(vonStumm,FentonO’Creevy,&Furnham,

2013).

Nevertheless,theresearchdoesshowanassociationbetweenlow-incomesandlow

financialliteracy.Forexample,generalpopulationsurveysintheU.S.havefoundthat

peoplewithlowincomesarelessfinanciallyknowledgeablethanthosewithhigherincomes

(Anderson,Zhan,&Scott,2005).Thosewithlowincomesarealsomoresusceptibleto

paydayloans,pawning,andaccessingother‘predatory’lendersthatchargemuchhigher

20

interestratesthanmajorlenderssuchasbanks(Andersonetal.,2005).Studieshavealso

shownthatthoseonlow-incomesarelesslikelytosavemoney(Andersonetal.,2005).

InAustralia,the2003ANZfinancialliteracystudyfoundthatthelowestlevelsoffinancial

literacywereassociatedwiththosehavingloweducationqualification(Year10orless),

thosecategorisedas‘unskilledworkers’,andthosewithlessthan$20,000inhousehold

income(Taylor&Wagland,2013).Thisfindingwasrepeatedinthe2005and2008ANZ

surveys(Taylor&Wagland,2013).Similarly,theFinancialResilienceinAustralia2015report

(Muiretal.,2016)foundthatmostpeoplewithveryloworloweconomicresourcesalso

haveloworverylowlevelsoffinancialknowledgeandbehaviour.GiventhatAustralia’s

NewstartAllowanceisthelowestunemploymentpaymentintheOECD,atjust40%ofalow

full-timewageaftertax,beingabletomanageaverysmallincomewelliscrucialforsurvival

(Brackertz,2014).Infact,someresearchhasshownthatfinancialliteracyprogramsare

particularlyeffectiveforlow-incomeandverydisadvantagedparticipants,sinceevensmall

changesinfinancialbehaviourscanhavelargeimpactsontheirlives(Fry,Mihajilo,Russell,

&Brooks,2008;Grinstein-Weiss,Guo,Reinertson,&Russell,2015).

Althoughanumberoffinancialeducationprogramshavebeendevelopedgloballyto

addressthefinancialliteracyneedsoflow-incomepopulations,thereislittleresearch

measuringtheeffectivenessoftheseprograms(Lyons,Chang,&Scherpf,2006).Oneofthe

mainreasonsforthesparseamountofresearchisthatvulnerablepopulationgroupsmay

bemoredifficulttotrack,theytypicallyhavehighprogramdropoutratesandlowsurvey

responserates(Collins,2010;Lyonsetal.,2006).Forexample,anationalstudyofthe

effectivenessoffinancialcounsellinginAustraliaonlyhada5.3%responseratetothe1,200

questionnairessentoutto48sitesineachstateandterritory(Brackertz,2014).Theauthor

consideredthisasuccessduetothedifficultiesinherentinengagingthemost

disadvantagedmembersofsociety(Brackertz,2014).

21

Additionally,mostprogramstargetinglow-incomepopulationsareoperatedbynon-profit

organisationswithlimitedresourcesandresearchcapability(Lyonsetal.,2006).

Furthermore,ithasbeenarguedthatmeasuresof‘success’offinancialliteracyprograms

targetedatlow-incomeclienteleneedtoberealisticandrecognisethatsomefinancial

behaviourscannotchangebecausetheirextenuatingfinancialcircumstanceshavenot

changed(Lyonsetal.,2006).Forexample,someprogramattendeesareunabletosaveas

theirincomeisinsufficienttomeeteventheirbasicexpenses(Brackertz,2014;Loibl,Jones,

Haisley,&Loewenstein,2016).

Ofthemorerecentresearchevaluatingtheeffectivenessoffinancialliteracyprograms

targetedatlow-income,disadvantagedpopulations,twoofthesestudieswereexperimental

indesignandsowereabletoshowcausality.Asmall(N=33)experimentalstudyofa

financialliteracyprogramdeliveredthrougharesidentialserviceforhomelessfamilies

foundthattheprogramincreasedbothfinancialknowledgeandpositivefinancial

behavioursattheendofthefourweeks,comparedtothoseinthecontrolgroupof

residentswhodidnotattendtheprogram(Reich&Berman,2015).However,therewasa

highlevelofattritionfromthestudy,with46%ofthe61initiallyrecruitednotcompleting

thestudyforavarietyofreasons(Reich&Berman,2015).

Anotherexperimentalstudyexaminedtheeffectivenessofafinancialliteracyprogram

designedforanddeliveredto300survivorsofintimatepartnerviolence(Hetling,Postmus,

&Kaltz,2015).Thisstudyfoundastrongprogrameffectonself-reportedfinancial

knowledgeandbehavioursonemonthaftercompletionoftheprogram.Thisstudyalsohad

quiteahighattritionrate,with34%notcontinuinginthestudyatTime2,onlyonemonth

aftertheendoftheprogram.Themainreasonfortheattritionwastheinabilitytocontact

participantsforthesecondinterview(Hetlingetal.,2015).Althoughnotanexperimental

study,Grinstein-Weissetal.(2015)examinedthelongitudinaldataofapproximately2,000

low-incomeparticipantsofamatchedsavingsprogramwithafinancialeducation

componentintheU.S.Theyfoundthatfinancialeducationwasastrongpredictorofsavings

outcomesforlow-incomeprogramparticipants.Theauthorsconcludedthatevenshort

22

financialeducationcoursescanprovidelow-incomehouseholdswiththeknowledgeand

motivationtoaccumulatesavings.

Duetothelimitedamountofresearchonfinancialliteracyprogramsdesignedforand

deliveredtolow-incomepopulations,theliteraturehasnotyetconfirmeddefinitebest

practicesinfinancialeducationforthispopulation(ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau,

2015;Grinstein-Weissetal.,2015;Tuominen&Thompson,2015).Nevertheless,some

tentativebestpracticeguidelinesfordeliveringfinancialliteracyprogramstolow-income

andvulnerableclientshaveemergedfromtheliterature(Robson,2012).Theseguidelines

recommendthatfinancialliteracyprogramsforlow-incomeanddisadvantagedpopulations

aremosteffectivewhenthey:

• aretargeted&relevanttotheiraudience;

• aredeliveredbytherightpeople;

• aredeliveredattherighttime;

• areconsistentwithprinciplesofadultlearning;and,

• empowerattendees.


Themostimportantbestpracticetobehighlightedintheliteratureistheneedforfinancial

programstobewelltargetedtotheiraudience(Blue&Brimble,2014;Hathaway&

Khatiwada,2008).Intheirreviewoftheliterature,HathawayandKhatiwada(2008)

concludethattheoverallevidencefortheeffectivenessoffinancialeducationremains

unclear;however,inboththeshortandlongterm,highlytargetedprograms,ratherthan

generalprograms,tendtobemoreeffectiveinchangingpeople’sfinancialbehaviours.

Thereisaparticularneedtotailorfinancialliteracyprogramswhentheaudiencearethose

whoaremarginalisedinsocietyanddonothaveaccessto,oropportunitywith,mainstream

financialservices.Sometimesmainstreaminformationandadvicefromfinancialservices

23

canbeirrelevantorunhelpfulforvulnerableclients(Robson,2012).Therefore,theprogram

contentneedstobetailoredtoclients’livesandcircumstances,addressingtheirmainneeds

andconcerns(Friedman,2005;Robson,2012).Theinformationprovidedneedstobe

accurateandappropriateforthetargetaudience(Robson,2012).Themorerelevantthe

material,themorelikelyitisthatprogramparticipantswillremainengagedinthetraining

(Friedman,2005).Forexample,someresearchhasfoundthatthosewhoaredependenton

governmentpaymentsarenotawareofthefullservicesandbenefitsavailabletothemand

thereforethisisatopicrelevanttothemostdisadvantagedinsociety(Andersonetal.,

2005).

Inadditiontothecontentoftheprogramneedingtoberelevant,theteachingstyleshould

alsobetargetedtotheaudience.Forexample,usingpracticalexamplestoillustratethe

informationisrecommended,asthisenablesparticipantstopersonalisetheconceptsbeing

taughtandapplythemtotheirownsituations(Friedman,2005).Theuseofrelevant,

practicalexamplesmayalsohelppeoplebetterunderstandfinancialconceptsandretain

whattheyhavelearnt(Friedman,2005).However,anyillustrationsorexercisesneedto

reflectthelimitedeconomicresourcesof,andconstraintsplacedon,peoplelivingonlow-

incomes(Andersonetal.,2005).Aswellasappropriateexamples,teachingsimple“rulesof

thumb”,hasbeenshowntobeveryeffectiveininfluencingfinancialbehaviours(Consumer

FinancialProtectionBureau,2015;Datta&Mullainathan,2014).Thiscanbeaparticular

issueforpeopleinsubstanceabuserehabilitationprograms.Rulesofthumb,suchas“pay

yourselffirst”,areeasytorememberandsoaremorelikelytoberecalledwhenmaking

decisions(ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau,2015).Furthermore,thelanguageusedto

presentthetrainingmaterialshouldbeconsistentwithparticipants’educationaland

culturalcontexts(Andersonetal.,2005).

Tailoringcontentanddeliverytothetargetaudienceshouldalsoincludeculturaladaptation

(Brimble&Blue,2013).Forexample,afinancialliteracyprogramwasadaptedfordeliveryat

sixindigenoussitesinQueensland(Brimble&Blue,2013).Thisprogramrecognisedthe

culturalandtraditionalvaluesystemsofindigenouspeoples,wheresharingresourceswith

24

extendedfamily,kinshipandreciprocityarecentraltoAboriginalidentity.Furthermore,the

programwasadaptedtothelearningstyleofprogramparticipants,withmoretimegivento

groupdiscussionsandstorytelling.Suchculturaladaptationsarevitaltoensuringthatthe

contentanddeliverystyleoftheprogramarerelevantandappropriateforculturallydiverse

groupsinsociety.

Delivered by the right people

Notonlydoesthecontentoftheinformationneedtoberelevantanddeliveredina

culturallyappropriatemanner,butwhodeliversthematerialisalsoimportant.The

trustworthinessoftheprovideroftheprogram,particularlyintheirmotivesandthe

capacitytoprovideaccurateandappropriateinformation,issignificant(Robson,2012;

Russelletal.2011).Financialliteracyprogramsdeliveredbycommunity-basedorganisations

aretrustedthemostbyvulnerableindividualssincetheytendnottoarousesuspicionsthat

therearehidden,self-servingmotivesbehindtheinformationbeingpresented(Friedman,

2005;Robson,2012).Furthermore,targetingthemostvulnerablepopulationsmaybebest

achievedthroughthecommunitysector,sincethissectorunderstandstheneedsand

circumstancesoflow-incomeindividualsbetterthanothers(Russelletal.,2011).

Inadditiontotheprogramprovider,theindividualswhodelivertheprogramandtheir

communicationstylealsomatterstoprogramefficacy.Theliteraturesuggeststhatbest

practiceincludeshavingwell-prepared,well-trainedinstructorswhoarefirstfinancially

literatethemselves(Collins&Holden,2014;Robson,2012).

Additionally,itiskeythatfinancialliteracystaffhaveagoodunderstandingoftheneedsof

vulnerablegroupsandarenon-judgemental(Robson,2012).Therearerealriskstoteaching

financialliteracybadlybyprovidinginaccuratecontent,ordeliveringinsensitiveor

inappropriateguidancetoclients(Robson,2012).Theserisksincludeencouragingchanges

thatareinfactdetrimentaltoparticipants’financialwell-being,discouragingfurther

learningaboutpersonalfinance,causingclientstoviewlearningaboutfinancialknowledge

25

asirrelevant,orprovidingapainfulreminderofparticipants’owndisadvantageand

marginalisation(Robson,2012).Therefore,itisimportanttochooseandtrainfinancial

literacyprogramstaffcarefully.

Delivered at the right time

Inadditiontorelevantcontentandappropriatedeliverybytherightpeople,thetimingof

financialliteracyeducationisalsoimportant(Kiviat&Morduch,2012).Peoplearemost

likelytobeattentiveandengagedwithaprogramwhenthecontentisrelevanttotheir

greatestneedsatthetime(Frentzeletal.,2010;Friedman,2005).Conversely,unwanted

informationmaybeneithervaluednoractedupon(Russelletal.,2011).Ithasbeen

suggestedthatfinancialliteracyprogramsaremosteffectivewhentheyinterveneat

“teachablemoments”inparticipantslives(Robson,2012).Theseteachablemomentsare

whenfinancialchoiceisimminentandwhenthecontentoftheprogramhasimmediate

practicalapplications(Robson,2012).

Ithasalsobeenproposedthatembeddingfinancialliteracyprogramsintootherexisting

programsandservicesmaybeworthwhile,asclientsarepresumablyatavulnerableperiod

intheirliveswhentheyseektheseotherservices,andthereforemaybemotivatedto

improvetheirmoneymanagementskills(Robson,2012).Furthermore,includingfinancial

literacyeducationwithinotherprogramsthatsimultaneouslyaddressmultipleneeds

enablesorganisationstosupportclientsinaholisticmanner(Robson,2012).

Adhere to principles of adult learning

Adultslearndifferentlytochildrenandyouth,sofinancialliteracyprogramsbeingdelivered

toadultsneedtoadheretotheprinciplesofadultlearning(Robson,2012).Thebasic

principlesarethatadults:

• respondtoguidancenotinstruction;

• selectivelyattendtoinformationtheyfeelisrelevanttothem;

• bringindependentideas,previousknowledge,andlifeexperiencetotheirlearning;

26

• learnwhentheyaremotivatedtodoso;and,

• learnbestbydoing(Robson,2012)

Themostimportantprinciplefromadultlearningthatappliestofinancialliteracyprograms

isthatadultsdonotwanttobeinstructedorlecturedaboutwhatthey‘should’do.Instead,

adultlearnerswishtoreceiveguidancethatisrelevanttotheircircumstances(Robson,

2012).Adultshaveexistingknowledgeandlifeexperiences,soadaptingprogramcontentto

buildonparticipants’existingknowledgeandinsightsiskeytosuccessfuladultlearning

(Robson,2012).Therefore,amoreparticipatoryandgroupdiscussionstyleofteachingthat

elicitsparticipants’inputandfeedbackislikelytobemoreeffectivethanalecturestyle

method(Robson,2012).Thisalsoallowsthepresentertomoreaccuratelyadaptthe

programmaterialtothecurrentneedsandinterestsofthegroup,therebyincreasing

programrelevance(Andersonetal.,2005).Ithasbeensuggestedthatthestyleoflearning

infinancialliteracyprogramswiththegreatestimpactfordisadvantagedgroupsisamutual

exchangebetweenparticipantsandprogramproviders(Robson,2012).Anotheradvantage

ofgroupdiscussions,andelicitingparticipationandfeedbackfromprogramattendees,is

thatitdemonstratesaninterestintheopinionsandlivesofattendees,andsobuildstheir

confidenceandsupportstheirempowerment(Andersonetal.,2005).

Adultlearnersdobestwhentheyaremotivatedandvolunteertobepartofafinancial

educationprogram(Robson,2012).Mandatoryfinancialliteracyprogramsmaycreate

barrierstolearningandfacilitatorsmayhavetofirstwinoverreluctantparticipants

(Robson,2012),althoughthishasnotbeendemonstratedbyresearchasyet.However,

peoplewithverylowfinancialliteracyhavebeenfoundtolackmotivationtoseekfinancial

counselling,sovoluntaryparticipationamongthispopulationgroupmightresultin

programsnotbeingdeliveredtothosewhoneeditthemost(Frentzeletal.,2010).

Regardingtheprincipleofadultslearningbestbydoing,someresearchhasfoundthat

‘learningbydoing’isthesinglemostimportantfactorinacquiringfinancialcapabilityandis

consideredbysometobeavitalpartoffinancialeducation(Russelletal.,2011).Hence,itis

importantthatfinancialliteracyprogramsprovideactivitiesforparticipantstoengagein

27

duringtheprogram,andthatattendeesareencouragedtoactontheirnewknowledge

immediately.Foradults,knowinghowtodothingsisoftenmoreimportantthanthe

knowledgeofparticularfacts(ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau,2015).Therefore,

teachingfinancialliteracyskills,suchashowtodoabudgetandpracticalwaystoreduce

spending,ismorelikelytoproducechangesinpeople’sbehaviourthanfactualknowledge

(ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau,2015).

Empowerment & self-efficacy

Finally,theliteraturesuggeststhatitisimportanttoempowerprogramparticipants

(Andersonetal.,2005).Indeed,empoweringindividualshasbeendescribedasbedrockto

theworkoffinancialeducators(Kiviat&Morduch,2012).Byprovidingtoolsandteaching

skills,thepurposeofempoweringparticipantsistobuildtheirabilityandconfidencetobe

abletobettercontrolandmanagetheirfinances(Andersonetal.,2005).Incorporating

empowermentlanguageintoprogramsmaybeespeciallysalientforpeoplewithlow-

incomeswhofeelmarginalisedfromtherestofsociety(Andersonetal.,2005).Forthose

whomaybedependentongovernmentincomesupportand/orcharitiestobeableto

survive,financialliteracyeducationmaypromotesomesenseofself-sufficiencyandcontrol

intheirlives(Tuominen&Thompson,2015).

Relatedtoempowermentistheconceptofself-efficacy(Bandura,1982).Self-efficacyisthe

beliefinone’sabilitytosucceedatperformingaspecifictask(Frentzeletal.,2010).Those

withhigherlevelsofself-efficacyaremorelikelytobeproactiveandtakeinitiativebecause

theybelievetheiractionswillbeeffective(Frentzeletal.,2010).Healthmanagement

studieshavefoundassociationsbetweenhighself-efficacyandincreasedlikelihoodsof

followingadietandexerciseprogram,higherqualityoflifeforasthmaticsandhigher

medicationadherence(Frentzeletal.,2010).Therefore,increasingpeople’sfinancialself-

efficacycouldplayanimportantroleintheeffectivenessoffinancialliteracyeducationin

changingbehaviour(Frentzeletal.,2010).Regardlessofwhethertheterms‘empowerment’

or‘self-efficacy’areused,theimportantpointisthatfinancialprogramsaremorelikelyto

28

producechangesinbehaviourifprogramparticipantsbelievetheyhavetheabilityto

changetheircircumstances.

Conclusion

Insummary,thereisevidencethatfinancialliteracyprogramsareeffectiveatcontributing

toimprovedfinancialbehavioursforlow-incomeandmarginalisedpopulations.Recent

experimentalstudieshavedemonstratedcausationbyfindingthatthosewhoparticipated

infinancialliteracyprogramshavebetterfinancialknowledgeandbehavioursafterthe

programscomparedtothosewhodidnotreceivetheeducation.Althoughthereis

insufficientresearchasyettoconfirmasetofbestpracticesforfinancialliteracyprograms

targetingseverelyfinanciallyvulnerableclients,ithasbeenrecommendedthatfinancial

literacyprogramsaremosteffectivewhentheyoffertailored,contentisrelevant,anditis

deliveredinanappropriatemannerbytrustedtrainerswhoareknowledgeableandnon-

judgemental(Robson,2012).

Using Text Messages to Support Improvements in Financial

Literacy

Humansoftenbehaveinwaysthataredetrimentaltotheirownwell-being.Forexample,

despiteincreasededucationandadvertisingefforts,obesity,smoking,alcohol,andlackof

physicalactivity,continuetohaveadeleteriousimpactonpublichealthworldwide

(Marteau,Ogilvie,Roland,Suhrcke,&Kelly,2011).So,howcanpolicymakerschangehuman

behaviourtoimprovewell-beingacrossawholerangeofdomains?Oneapproachis

throughtheuseof“nudges”.

BehaviouraleconomistsRichardThalerandCassSunsteinpopularisedtheterm“nudge”,

whichtheydefinedasanymechanismthataltersorprejudicespeople’sdecisionsand

behaviourinapredictablewaywithoutprohibitinganyoptions(Marteauetal.,2011;

Sunstein,2014;Thaler&Sunstein,2008).Theoriginaldefinitionofnudgingexcluded

29

legislation,regulationandinterventionsthataltereconomicincentives(Marteauetal.,

2011).However,thereisnoprecise,operationaldefinitionofnudginganditisbestthought

ofasatypeofbehaviouralchangeintervention(Marteauetal.,2011).Thekeycharacteristic

ofnudgesisthattheysteerpeopleinaparticulardirection,butstillallowfreechoice

(Sunstein,2014).Nudgespromptandactivelyguidechoices,ratherthandictate,byaltering

socialorphysicalenvironmentstomakecertainbehavioursmorelikely(Marteauetal.,

2011).

Theconceptofnudgesdrawsonbehaviouraleconomicsandsocialpsychologythathelp

explainwhypeopleoftendonotbehaverationally(Marteauetal.,2011;Pathak,Holmes,&

Zimmerman,2011).Althoughbasedinbehaviouraleconomicsandsocialpsychology,

Marteauetal.(2011)proposethatnudgingbridgesthegapbetweentwohumansystems,

thegoal-orientedsystemandtheautomatic,affectivesystem.Thegoal-orientedsystemis

drivenbyourcognitivecapacity,ourthoughts,valuesandintentions.Theautomaticsystem,

incontrast,requireslittleornocognitiveengagementandisdrivenbyimmediatefeelings

andistriggeredbyourenvironment.AccordingtoMarteauetal.,nudgingmainlyoperates

throughthisautomatic,affectivesystemandassumesthatalteringenvironmentalcues

shouldalterpeople’schoicesandbehaviours.

Nudgingasawayofchanginghumanbehaviourhasgeneratedgreatinterestamongstpolicy

makersworldwideinrecentyears,withboththeU.K.andU.S.governmentsembracingthis

tool(Marteauetal.,2011).TheU.K.nowhasaBehaviouralInsightsteam(sometimes

referredtoasthe“NudgeUnit”)andtheU.S.hasaWhiteHouseSocialandBehavioural

Sciencesteam(Sunstein,2014).Thegrowinginterestinnudgescanbeattributedtothelow

costoftheinterventions,thepotentiallyfastdeliveryandresults,thepersonalfreedom

theymaintain,andtheireffectiveness(Sunstein,2014).Thereareawiderangeoftypesof

nudges,withSunstein(2014)listingthetenmostimportantnudgesas:

• defaultrules(e.g.automaticenrolmentsinprograms);

• simplification(e.g.thesimplificationofformstoenterprograms);

30

• useofsocialnorms(e.g.comparingyourelectricitybilltothatofothersofthe

samehouseholdsize);

• increasesineaseandconvenience(e.g.puttingfruitatthecheckoutcounter

insteadoflollies);

• disclosure(e.g.remindingcustomersoftheinterestrateontheircreditcard);

• warnings(e.g.graphicphotosoncigarettepackets);

• pre-commitmentstrategies(e.g.committingtostopsmoking);

• reminders(e.g.textmessageappointmentreminders);

• elicitingimplementationintentions(e.g.asking“doyouplantoimmuniseyour

child?”);and,

• informingpeopleofthenatureandconsequencesoftheirownpastchoices(e.g.

theirelectricitybillforthesameperiodtheyearbefore).

Remindernudgesareofparticularrelevancetothepresentstudy.Remindersare

hypothesizedtobeeffectivenudgesbecauseoftheireffectonattention(Datta&

Mullainathan,2014;Pathaketal.,2011).Sometimespeoplehavegoodintentionstochange

theirbehaviour,butfollowingthroughonthoseintentionsrequiresrememberingtomake

thenecessarychangesorperhapsprioritisingtheaction(Datta&Mullainathan,2014).A

timelyremindercanmitigatethismemorylapse(Datta&Mullainathan,2014).Reminders

alsoaddressthe‘availabilitybias’,whichisthetendencyforpeopletomakedecisionsbased

onthefrequencyofinformationortheexamplesthemindimaginesorretrieves(Pathaket

al.,2011).Nudgescanbringgoalsandintentionstoone’simmediateattention,makingit

morelikelythattheywillactonthoseintentions(Pathaketal.,2011).Therefore,reminders

canbeusedinsituationswherepeopleforfeitsubstantialbenefitswhentheydonotdo

something,attherighttime(Datta&Mullainathan,2014).

Oneofthemosteconomical,easy,rapidandeffectivewaystosendreminderstoatargeted

groupisthroughtextmessaging(Milward,Day,Wadsworth,Strang,&Lynskey,2015).Easy

touseandinexpensivesoftwareisavailabletofacilitateautomatedtextmessage

communication(Thirumurthy&Lester,2012).Mobilephonesarepervasiveinthe

31

developedworld,with91%ofadultsintheU.S.and94%intheU.K.owningamobilephone

(Milwardetal.,2015).StatisticsbytheSwissFederalStatisticsOffice(2014)indicatedthatin

2012,thereweremoremobilephonesubscriptionsthaninhabitantsinmanyEuropean

countries(Billieux,Maurage,Lopez-Fernandez,Kuss,&Griffiths,2015).InAsia,theOfficeof

theCommunicationAuthorityofHongKong(2013)statedthatin2012,theaveragenumber

ofcellularphonesownedwas2.21perperson(Billieuxetal.,2015).Mobilephoneshave

alsohadaconsiderableimpactindevelopingcountries,sincecommunicationbymobile

phoneislessexpensivethanlandlinetelephonesorstandardinternet(Cole-Lewis&

Kershaw,2010b).Approximately75%ofadultsworldwidehaveaccesstoamobilephone,

withthree-quartersoftheworld’ssevenbillionmobilephonesubscriberslivinginlow-and

middle-incomecountries(Kamisetal.,2015).Therefore,textmessagingholdspromiseasa

usefultoolforbehaviourchangeinterventionsworldwide(Cole-Lewis&Kershaw,2010b).

Despitealltheinterestandpotentialadvantagesofusingnudgesinsteadofregulationand

monetaryincentivestoalterbehaviour,theevidencesupportingtheeffectivenessofnudges

isnotstraightforward.Textmessagingisarelativelynewmethodofdeliveryforbehaviour

changeinterventions,andthereforethereisapaucityofresearchontextmessagenudges

(Cole-Lewis&Kershaw,2010b).Todate,textnudgeshavebeenmostlyusedfordisease

preventionandmanagement.Inameta-analysisof12randomisedcontrolledtrialsusing

textmessagingforthemanagementofweightloss,smokingcessationanddiabetes,eightof

thestudiesfoundevidenceofshort-termeffects(Cole-Lewis&Kershaw,2010b).These

effectswerefoundforadolescentsandadults,minorityandnon-minoritygroups,and

acrossnationalities.However,ofthe12studiesinthemeta-analysis,threereportednot

beingstatisticallypowerfulenoughtodetectdifferencesinoutcomesandtherefore

producedinconclusiveresults.

Sincethismeta-analysisbyCole-LewisandKershaw(2010),otherstudiesusingtextmessage

nudgesinthehealthdomainhaveadvancedtheliteratureinthisarea.Forexample,inChina

almost2,000randomlyselectedcommunityresidentswereassignedtoreceivethreeweeks

oftextmessagesabouteitherinfluenzapreventionorstoppingsmoking(Chaietal.,2013).

32

Participantswhoreceivedtheinfluenzapreventionmessageshadahigherself-reported

uptakeofinfluenzavaccination,reportedreducedinfluenza-likeillness,andshowed

improvedknowledgeandattitudesaboutinfluenzapreventionandcontrolattheendofthe

studycomparedtothosewhohadreceivedthesmokingmessages.Further,morethan95%

ofparticipantsfoundthetextmessageprogramusefulandtrustworthy.Similarly,two

randomisedcontrolledtrialsinKenyashowedthatregulartextmessagescanimprove

adherencetoantiretroviraltherapyforpeoplewithhumanimmunodeficiencyvirus(HIV)

(Thirumurthy&Lester,2012).Inthefirststudy,textmessagesweresentonceaweek

enquiringaboutpatients’healthandsayingtheycouldreplyandseekadvicefromhealth-

careproviders.Patientsreceivingthisnudgeadheredtotheirtreatmentbetterthanthosein

thecontrolgroup.Inthesecondstudy,aone-waytextmessagewassentremindingpatients

totaketheirmedication.Halftheparticipantsreceivedthismessageweeklyandtheother

halfreceiveditdaily.Surprisingly,thosewhoreceivedthetextsweeklyadheredtothe

treatmentbetterthanthosewhoreceivedthemessagesdaily,suggestingthefrequencyof

thenudgesisimportant.

Ameta-analysisofninetext-messaginginterventionsdesignedtopromoteadherenceto

antiretroviraltherapydemonstratedthattextmessaginginterventionssignificantly

improvedHIVtreatmentadherencecomparedtocontrolconditions(Finitsis,Pellowski,&

Johnson,2014).Themeta-analysisalsofoundthatmessagingparticipantsonceormore

timesadayresultedinlessadherencecomparedtosendingmessagesafewtimesaweekor

weekly.Largeradherenceeffectswerealsofoundwhenthetextmessagessupported

bidirectionalcommunication,includedpersonalisedmessages,andwerematchedto

participants’dosingschedule.Implicationsfromthismeta-analysisarethattextmessages

shouldbetailoredtotheindividual,encouragetherecipienttoreplytothetext,andbesent

lessfrequentlythandaily.

Incontrasttothesepositivefindings,otherstudiesoftextmessageinterventionshave

demonstratedmixedresults.Forexample,astudyontextmessageremindersafterrapid

diagnostictesting(RDT)foralmost700peopleseekingtreatmentformalariaatdrugstores

33

inNigeriafoundthattheeffectsofthetextmessagesdifferedforchildrencomparedto

adults(Liu&Modrek,2016).Inthisstudy,participantswererandomlyassignedtothree

groups;thosewhoreceivedabasictextreminderrepeatingtheRDTresultandappropriate

treatmentaction,thosewhoreceivedanexpandedtextmessageindicatingthatthe

governmentmightallowchemiststodoRDTs,oracontrolgroupthatdidnotreceiveany

textmessages.Thestudyfoundthatthetextremindersincreasedtreatmentadherencefor

RDT-positiveadultsanddecreasedtheuseofunnecessaryanti-malarialsforRDT-negative

adults.However,thebasictextreminderinterventiondidnothaveanimpactontreatment

adherenceortheuseofunnecessaryanti-malarialsforcaregiversofsickchildren.Infact,

theexpandedtextmessageactuallyledtopoorertreatmentadherenceandincreaseduse

ofunnecessaryanti-malarialsforsickchildren.

Mixedresultswerealsofoundinarandomisedcontrolledtrialstudywhereapproximately

800collegefreshmanweresent12personalisedtextmessagereminderseverycoupleof

weekspromptingthemtore-applyfortheFreeApplicationforFederalStudentAid

(FAFSA)(Castleman&Page,2015).Thestudyfoundlargeandpositiveeffectsamong

freshmanattendingcommunitycolleges,witha14%increaseinthoseremainingenrolledin

college.Theimpactoftheinterventionwasparticularlystrongforcommunitycollege

freshmanwithlowergradesinhighschool.Incontrast,thetextmessagesdidnotimprove

enrolmentcontinuanceamongfreshmanatfour-yearinstitutions.Inthecontrolgroup,

freshmanfromcommunitycollegeswerenearlythreetimesmorelikelytofailtoreapplyfor

theFAFSAcomparedtofreshmanoffour-yearcollegeswheretherateofpersistencewas

alreadyhigh(87%).Therewasalsoevidencethatthetextmessageshaddifferenteffectsfor

maleandfemalefreshmanatfour-yearinstitutions.Comparedtothecontrolgroup,thetext

messagesincreasedtheprobabilitythatmalefreshmanwouldremaininfour-year

institutions,butactuallydecreasedtheprobabilitythatfemalefreshmanwouldremainin

four-yearinstitutions.Therefore,thisstudy,aswiththestudyinNigeria,suggeststext

messagesmayhavedifferentialeffectsondifferentsub-groupswithinapopulation.

Otherstudieshavefoundthattextmessageremindershadnostatisticallysignificanteffects.

Forexample,anexperimentalstudyof63universitystudentsinEuropefoundthatdailytext

34

messageremindersencouragingparticipantstobephysicallyactivedidnotincrease

students’levelofphysicalactivity(Schwerdtfeger,Schmitz,&Warken,2012).However,this

wasonlyasmallandbriefpilotstudy,sothesefindingsneedtobereplicated.Alargescale

randomisedevaluationofarecyclingprograminPerualsofoundnoeffectfortextmessages

onbehaviour(Chong,Karlan,Shapiro,&Zinman,2015).Inthisstudythetreatmentgroup

wasdividedintosubgroupsthatreceivedarangeofdifferenttextmessagewording,but

noneofthemessageswereeffectiveinchangingrecyclingbehaviour.Incontrast,thestudy

foundthatprovidinghouseholdswitharecyclingbindidimpactonrecyclingbehaviour.The

authorscommentthatmanyofthetextmessagesweresimilartomessagesfoundtobe

effectiveinothercountries,andsotextmessaginginterventionsmaynotgeneraliseacross

contextsandcountries(Chongetal.,2015).Inaddition,textmessageremindersmaynotbe

thebestinterventiontoalterbehaviourinsomecontexts,withotherinterventions,suchas

providingarecyclingbin,beingmoreeffective.

Asimilarlydisappointingresultwasfoundinarecentexperimentalstudytestingthe

effectivenessofnudgeremindersonincreasingthechildsupportpaymentsfrom

noncustodialparents(Baird,Cullinan,Landers,&Reardon,2016).Noncustodialparentsnot

currentlypayingchildsupportthroughincomewithholdingwererandomlysplitintothree

groups:acontrolgroupthatwasnotsentanyreminders,atextgroupthatwassenttwo

textmessagereminderseachmonth,andamailinggroupthatwaspostedamonthly

redesignedremindernotice.Althoughboththemailingandtextmessagereminders

increasedthepercentageofparentswhomadeapaymentbyastatisticallysignificant

amount,thisincreasewassmall(anincreaseof3.2%forthemailinggroup,and2.5%forthe

textinggroup).Furthermore,thetotalamountscollectedperparentdidnotincreasefor

eitherremindergroups.Therewasnostatisticallysignificantdifferenceineffectiveness

betweenthemonthlymailednoticesandthetwiceamonthtextmessages.Hence,it

appearsthattextmessagenudgesarenotalwaysaneffectivetoolforbehaviourchange.It

isimportanttoconsiderthattextmessagesaremeantonlyasreminderstobringadesired

behaviourintofocusandshouldnotbeexpectedtochangealltypesofbehaviour.Withall

interventions,itisimportanttoknowwhatworksforwhomandunderwhatcircumstances.

35

Usingtextmessagingshouldinthefirstinstancebeappropriatetothebehaviouralcontext.

Therefore,testingtheuseoftextmessagingasanudgeindifferentcontextswillhelp

produceanunderstandingofwhentextmessagingcanbemosteffective.

Inthedomainoffinancialliteracy,theevidencefortheeffectivenessoftextmessage

nudgesinchangingpeople’sfinancialbehavioursisalsomixed.Inafieldexperimentwith

almost900microentrepreneurswhohadopenedbankaccountsinChile,participantswere

randomlyassignedtoreceiveaweeklytextmessagegivingpersonalisedtransaction

feedbackontheiraccount,ortoreceivenoreminders.Thestudyfoundsignificanteffects

forthosereceivingweeklytextmessages,withalmosttriplethenumberofweeklydeposits

comparedtothecontrolgroup.However,oncethetextmessagesstopped,therewasno

significantdifferenceinsavingsbehaviourbetweenthetreatmentandcontrolgroups,

demonstratingthattheeffectsdidnotpersistaftertreatment(Karlan,McConnell,

Mullainathan,&Zinman,2010).

Similarly,fieldexperimentswithdifferentbanksinthePhilippines,BoliviaandPeru

investigatedtheeffectofremindersonsavings(Karlanetal.,2010).Ineachexperiment,

afterindividualsopenedsavingsaccounts,thebankrandomlyassignedsomeindividualsto

receivemonthlyremindersviatextmessageorletter,ortoreceivenoreminders.Overall,

reminderssignificantlyincreasedthelikelihoodofreachingasavingsgoalby3%,and

marginallysignificantlyincreasedthetotalamountsavedinthebankby6%(Karlanetal.,

2010).InPeru,whereclientsstatedaspecificsavingsgoal,remindersthatmentionedthe

specificgoalincreasedsavingsbyanestimated16%comparedtothecontrolgroup,while

generalremindersthatdidnotmentionthespecificgoalhadnoeffectonsavingsamount.

Inaddition,neitherspecificnorgeneralremindershadaneffectongoalattainment.

Inanotherfieldexperiment,thistimeinUganda,arandomisedcontroltrialcomparedthe

impactofthreedifferentincentivesforloanrepayment(Cadena&Schoar,2011).Borrowers

wererandomlyassignedtoeitherreceivealumpsumcashrewarduponthecompletionof

36

theloan,a25%reductionintheinterestrateforthenextloantheborrowertakesfromthe

bank,oramonthlytextmessagereminderthreedaysbeforeeachloanpaymentduedate.

Thestudyfoundthattheaveragesizeofthetreatmenteffectwassimilaracrossall

treatmentconditions,suggestingthattextmessagereminderscanbeaseffectiveas

monetaryincentivestohelpborrowersbettermanagetheirloanrepayments.Moreover,

textmessageremindersshowedsignificantlystrongereffectsforborrowersbelowtheage

of30yearsoldcomparedtoolderborrowers,suggestingthattheeffectivenessoftext

nudgesmightberelatedtoage(Cadena&Schoar,2011).

Otherstudieshavefoundmixedsupportfortheeffectivenessoftextmessagenudgeson

financialbehaviours.Inanotherfieldexperimentexaminingtheeffectivenessofreminders

forloanrepaymentsinthePhilippines,textmessagereminderswereonlyfoundtobe

effectiveunderonecondition(Karlan,Morten,&Zinman,2012).TwolargePhilippinemicro

lenderssentrandomlyassignedclientsweeklytextmessageremindersabouttheirweekly

repaymentobligation.Thecontentandtimingofthemessageswerevaried.Themessages

weresenteitherontheduedateoracoupleofdayspriortotheduedate,andthecontent

ofthemessagewaseitherframedinlossorgainterms,andeitherincludedtheloan

officer’snameornot.Therewasnooveralltreatmenteffect,withnoevidencethatthe

averagemessageimprovedrepaymentperformancerelativetothecontrolgroup.Theonly

treatmentconditionthatshowedanyeffectwasmentioningtheloanofficer’sname,which

significantlyimprovedrepaymentperformance.Eventhiseffectwasonlysignificantfor

borrowerswhohadbeenservicedbythementionedloanofficer.Theauthorssuggestthat

thisdifferentialeffectcanbeexplainedbythemessagestriggeringpersonalrelationship

schemas(Karlanetal.,2012).Itispossiblethatthiseffectisatleastpartlyculturalandmay

notoccurinothercountries.

AU.S.fieldexperimentexaminedtheeffectoftextmessageremindersoncreditscoresof

low-to-moderate-incomeindividuals(Bracha&Meier,2014).Approximately250individuals

wererandomlyassignedtoreceiveeithermonthlytextmessagereminderscontaining

individualizedfinancialinformationornomessages.Thetextmessagesremindedpeopleto

37

paybillsontime(andatleasttheminimumamount),remindedthemoftheirtop-priority

financialgoalfortheyear,andgavetheircreditscorerange.Thisstudyfoundnooverall

effectoftextmessageremindersonchangeincreditscores.However,whenthe

participantsweredividedintosubgroupsaccordingtotheirinitialcreditratingscores,itwas

foundthattextmessageshadapositiveandsignificanteffectonindividualswhoinitially

hadlowcreditscores.Incontrast,thetextmessageshadamarginallysignificantnegative

effectonindividualswhoinitiallyhadhighcreditscores.Theauthorsofthestudysuggest

thattheremindersmayhavecausedhigh-credit-scoreindividualstolosesomefinancialself-

discipline,leadingtoincreasedcollectionaccounts.Therefore,thesefindingssuggestthat

textremindersmayhelpthosewhoneeditthemost,thatis,individualswithlowcredit

scores,buttheymayhaveanegativeeffectonpeoplewhodonotneedreminders.The

authorscautionthatnudgeremindersarenotamagicpillbutratheratoolthatcanhave

bothpositiveandnegativeeffects(Bracha&Meier,2014).

RodriguezandSaavedra(2015)conductedafieldexperimentwithlow-incomeyouthsin

Colombia.Approximately10,000youthswithbankaccountswererandomlyallocatedinto

oneoffourexperimentalconditions:

• Group1received12,monthlytextmessagescontainingfinancialeducationasthe

content.Eachmonththemessagevaried,andincludedthemessuchasthe

differencebetweenwantsandneeds,reducingunnecessaryexpenses,developinga

savingshabit,andsavinginsecureplaces.

• Group2received12,monthlysavingsreminders,allwiththesamewording,

“RemembertosaveyourTuticuenta!Thiswayyouwillbeonestepclosertoyour

goalsandmakeyourdreamscometrue.BancoCajaSocial”.

• Group3received24savingsreminderstwiceamonth,usingthesamemessageas

forGroup2.

• Group4wasthecontrolgroupthatreceivednomessages.

After12months,thestudymeasuredtheimpactoftextmessagesonaccountclosings,

accountdormancy,depositsandwithdrawals,andnetaccountbalance.Noneofthetext

messagingconditionseffectedaccountclosingsoraccountdormancycomparedtothe

38

controlgroup.However,therewerelargedifferencesovertimeinaveragenetaccount

balancesbetweenyouthsassignedtoeitherofthetwosavingsremindergroups,compared

tothecontrolgrouporthefinancialeducationgroup.Therewasnostatisticallysignificant

differenceinthenetaccountbalancesbetweenmonthlyandtwice-monthlyreminder

treatmentgroups.Interestingly,however,theincreasesinnetaccountbalancesinboth

remindertreatmentgroupswasmainlyduetoasignificantdecreaseintheamountof

moneywithdrawnfromaccountscomparedtothecontrolgroup.Noneofthetextmessage

treatmentshadasignificanteffectonthenumberofwithdrawalsoronthenumberor

amountofdeposits.Furthermore,theeffectsoftheremindersonbehaviourdidnotlast

oncetheremindersceasedbeingsent,withparticipantsreturningtosimilaramountsof

withdrawalsoncethestudyended(Rodriguez&Saavedra,2015).

Conclusion

Insummary,theresearchevidencefortheeffectivenessoftextmessagenudgesacrossthe

domainsoffinancialbehaviours,educationandpublichealth,isquitevariable.Indeed,

insteadofaskingwhetherornotnudges‘work’,amoreappropriatesetofquestionsare

whatworks,forwhom,inwhatcircumstances,andforhowlong(Marteauetal.,2011)?The

timing,content,andfrequencyoftextmessagescanimpactontheeffectivenessofnudges.

Theage,gender,culturalbackgroundandsocioeconomicstatusoftherecipientsofthe

nudgescanalsodeterminetheirusefulness.Importantly,theactualbehaviourthatthe

nudgeisaimedatchangingisperhapsthemostcriticalelementtoconsider.Forexample,

somebehaviourssuchasnotpayingchildsupportisreflectiveofarangeofotherissuesthat

cannotbechangedbytextmessages.Finally,itisimportanttobecognizantofthefactthat

textmessagenudgescanhaveunintentional,adverseeffectsonsomesubgroupswithina

population.Overall,then,textmessagenudgescanbeausefultoolforshortterm

behaviouralchangeinsomesituations,forsomepeople,someofthetime,andfurther

researchisrequiredtoidentifyasetofguidelinesfortheiruse.

39

The In Charge of My Money Program

Program Background

TheWesleyFinancialLiteracyProgramInChargeofMyMoneywasdevelopedandlaunched

in2011.ThecatalystfordevelopingtheprogramwasWesleyMission’s2010ThirdFinancial

StressReport(WesleyMission,2010).Theaimofthisreportwastounderstandhow

financialstresshadchangedsincethepreviousreportsin2006and2008,andtoidentify

whowasmostatrisk,andwhy.Dataforthereportwasgatheredfromanumberofsources,

includingfocusgroupswithWesleyMissionfinancialcounsellorstodiscussexperienceswith

theirclients,aquantitative,onlineandtelephonesurveyof621adultsinNSW,andcase

studyinterviewswithpeoplewhosoughtfinancialcounsellingfromWesleyMission(Wesley

Mission,2010).Theonlineandtelephonesurveydatawasweightedbyhouseholdincome

andlocationtomoreaccuratelyreflecttheNSWpopulation.

Keyfindingsfromthe2010reportwerethatmorethanathirdofrespondentsreported

beingfinanciallystressed,morethanhalfreportedfeelinganxiousabouttheirabilityto

meettheirfuturefinancialobligations,andcreditcarddebtwastwotothreetimeshigher

amonghouseholdsunderfinancialstress.Theseresultsrepresentedanincreaseinfinancial

problemsinNSWcomparedtoearlieryears.Thereportfoundthatmoneymanagement

skillswerenotwelldeveloped,with40%ofhouseholdsnothavingabudget,andathirdof

thosewithbudgetsnotadheringtothemandoverspending.Attitudestomoneywerefound

tobeunhelpfulinmanycases,with80%ofpeoplenothavingasavingsmindset,andmany

strugglingwiththeconceptofreducingexpensestodealwithfinancialhardship.

Inaddition,the2010surveyfoundthatfinancialstressisnotjustaboutmoney.Almosthalf

ofthoseunderfinancialstressinthesurveyhadsufferedfromillhealth,bothphysicaland

mental,andathirdexperiencingrelationshipissues,suchasdivorceanddomesticviolence.

Aquarterofrespondentsturnedtoalcoholanddrugstocopewiththefinancialstrain,and

onein10exacerbatedtheirfinancialproblemsbygambling.Themajorityofthosesurveyed

40

didnotseekassistancewhenexperiencingfinancialstress,ordelayedobtaininghelpuntilit

wastoolate(WesleyMission,2010).

Thekeyrecommendationfromthe2010“MakingEndsMeet”reportwastheneedto

increasepeople’sabilitytoself-managetheirfinancesbyenhancingfinancialliteracyin

NSW.Thereportrecommendedaneedfortargetedstrategiestoassistthosestrugglingwith

financialproblems.WesleyMissionrecognisedtheneedformorefocusedfinancialliteracy

trainingandresourcestobedisseminatedthroughcommunityservicesthatcareforthose

experiencingthegreatestfinancialstress.SinceWesleyMissionwasnotabletofindan

existingfinancialliteracyprogramthatspecificallyaddressedtheneedsoftheirmarginalised

clients,theydecidedtocreateaconsistentcommunityeducationprogramforWesley

Missionfinancialcounsellorsandfinancialliteracyeducatorstodeliver.

In2011,WesleyMission,togetherwithStGeorgeBank,begantheprocessofcreatinga

financialliteracyprogramtargetedatvulnerablecommunitieswheretherewerecomplex

problemsincludingaddictions,mentalandphysicalhealthissues,homelessness,

unemployment,anddomesticviolence.ThegoalofthisWesleyMissionandStGeorgeBank

financialliteracyeducationprojectwasto:

- provideeducation,materialsandresourcesthatwouldbuildbasicknowledge,

understandingandfinancialmanagementskills;

- developsociallyresponsiblebehavioursinpersonaldecisionmakinginmanaging

theirmoney;and,

- assistpeopletomakeinformedjudgementsandeffectivefinancialdecisions,

leadingtoimprovedself-managementoffinancesovertime.

ThefinancialliteracyeducationprojectwaspartoftheStGeorgesustainabilityagendaand

wasanextensionofthepartnershipwhichalreadyexistedbetweenStGeorgeBankand

WesleyMissionthroughdonationstofinancialeducation.TheInChargeofMyMoney

programwasbasedonarangeofexistingresourcesandgovernmentproducedmaterials

41

whichweremodifiedandextendedtoaddressthemoreacuteneedsofWesleyMission’s

clientele.

WesleyMission’sfinancialcounsellorsworkingacrosstheSydneymetropolitanand

Newcastleareaswereconsultedtoobtainanaccuratepictureoftheneedsoftheirclients.

Thefinancialcounsellorsidentifiedthemajorcontributortofinancialstressasbeingpoor

moneymanagementthroughtherelianceoncreditcards.Furthermore,aninternetsurvey

wasdevelopedtoexplorewhatsupportfinancialcounsellorsneededtodeliverafinancial

literacyeducationprogramandalsotoidentifywhatareaofunderstandingwasapriority

forthedevelopmentofprogrammaterials.Thesurveyhighlightedthatpersonalmoney

managementandmanagingdebtneededtobeapriorityforinitialprogramdevelopment.

TheprogramwasdevelopedusingtheadultlearningprinciplesofKnowles(Knowles,

Holton,&Swanson,1998)andfacilitatorsweretrainedtoincorporatethismodelintheir

deliveries.Theprogramwaspilotedfora12monthperiodinliaisonwithfinancial

counsellorsandcommunitygroups.WesleyMission’sfinancialcounsellorsweretrainedto

familiarisethemwiththenewmaterialsandresourcesforeffectivedeliverytomeetthe

needsofWesleyMission’sclients(WesleyMission,2011).

42

Program Description

InChargeofMyMoneywasdesignedbyMaisieWarburtonandlaunchedin2011.Theprogram

providesinformationabouthowtobettermanagemoney.Itisdesignedtobepractical,easyto

understand,andensureparticipantsareequippedwiththerelevantskillstomanagetheir

money.Thematerialsforpresentersincludefacilitatorguides,PowerPointslides,andaDVD.

Programparticipantsaregivenworksheets,acalculator,apen,amoneybox,andasmall

notebook.ThelanguageusedinthematerialsisataYear10literacylevel.In2013this

programreceivedtheHighlyCommendedAwardfortheannualASICMoneySmartAwards

(WesleyMission,2016b).

ThecontentofWesley’sfinancialliteracyprogramisarrangedintothreemodulesandeach

modulehascorrespondingworksheetstoengageparticipants.Thematerialsincorporate

informationfromtheMoneySmartwebsitewithpermissionfromAustralianSecuritiesand

InvestmentCommission(ASIC)(WesleyMission,2016a).

43

Thethreeindependentmodulesoftheprogramare:

Module1:Knowit—Yourincomeandexpenses

Thissectionexaminessourcesofincomeandexpenses,whatpeoplespendtheirmoneyon

andhowtheypayforthings.

Part1:Knowyourincomeandexpenses

Part2:Knowwhereyourmoneygoes

Part3:Knowhowyoupayforthings

Module2:Doit—Managingyourmoney

Thissectionexamineshowtomanagemoneybyidentifyingpersonalgoals,saving,planning

andpreparingabudget.

Part1:Knowwhatyouwant—goalsetting

Part2:Payyourselffirst—savings

Part3:Planningandbudgeting—manageyourmoney

Module3:Reviewit—Managingyourdebt

Thissectionexploreshowpeoplemanagetheirdebtthroughexaminingtheirloansandthe

costofborrowing.Itprovidesanopportunitytoreviewexpensesandmanagedebtthrough

budgeting.

Part1:Gettingintoandoutofdebt

Part2:Knowtherealcostofborrowing

Part3:Monitorandmanageyourdebt

Part4:Wheretogoforhelp

Thekeymessagetoprogramattendeesistoapplywhattheylearntoeverydaylife.The

underlyingrefrainthatappearsconsistentlythroughoutallworksheetsis:Knowit,

Understandit,Doit,Reviewit.Thispracticalandsimplestructureisintendedtoreinforce

thelearningduringtheprogram(WesleyMission,2016a).

44

Figure1:Knowit,understandit,doit,reviewitmodeloflearning

Theprogramalsoprovidesinformationon“wheretogoforhelp”andhighlightsthe

availabilityoffreefinancialcounsellingservices.Thereisanaddedbenefitofexposing

vulnerablepopulationstofinancialcounsellorsthroughthefinancialliteracyprogramas

manydonotknowthisfreeserviceexists.Thefacetofacecontactandexposureofthe

programencouragesprogramattendeestoaccessfinancialcounsellingandmakesitless

threateningtoseekthesupporttheyneed.

Programdelivery

TheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramisdeliveredbyqualifiedtrainingprofessionals,usually

financialcounsellors,andallmaterial,toolsandresourcesareprovidedfortheattendee.During

theevaluationstudy,allprogrampresenterswereeithercurrentWesleyMissionfinancial

counsellorsortheprogramdeveloperwhoisalsoafinancialliteracyeducator.Thepresentersare

trainedtodelivertheprograminanon-judgementalandnon-patronisingmanner,offering

Knowit

DoitUnderstand

it Reviewit

“TheprogramgotmethinkingaboutmoneyandhowIusedit.BeforeIjustuseditwithoutthinking,butnowIthinkaboutwhatIneedthemoneyfor.Inevertookthatintoaccountbefore.NowI'mholdingontomymoneymore.Itusedtoallbegonein2-3days,butnowmyunemploymentbenefitlastsaweekanda

half…”

45

informationandsuggestionswithouttellingattendeeswhatthey‘should’do.Thepresentersare

carefultorespecttheagency,opinions,andlifesituationsofprogramattendees.Flexibilityof

deliveryisalsocrucialtotakeintoconsiderationtheattentionspanofclientswithmentalhealth,

disability,addictionandgamblingissues.Presentersencourageparticipantstoaskquestionsand

discusstheirlifesituationsduringthesessions.Theprogramcanbedeliveredinoneday,butis

mostcommonlydeliveredweeklyinthreesessionsofthreehourseach.Eachsessioncoversone

module.Duringthisstudy,however,theprogramwasdeliveredinfoursessionsratherthan

threetoallowtimeattheendofthelastsessionforthestudytobedescribedandfor

participantstocompletethequestionnaires.

Informalprogramevaluationshavesuggestedthattheprogramiswell-receivedbyattendees.

However,thisprogramhasneverbeenempiricallyevaluatedforitsefficacy.Thepurposeofthis

studywastoascertainwhetherthisprogramiseffectiveandwhereitsstrengthsandweaknesses

lie.

“TheprogramshowedmewhereIwasgoingwrongandmademethinkaboutit,beresponsibleforwhatIwasdoingand

thinkingabouthowtousemymoney,beconsciousofthebillsIhave,puttingawayextra,learningtomanagemymoney.Idon'ttakemoneywithmewhenIwalkpasttheshopsnow.Iusedtobuy6-7coffeesaweek,nowIonlyhave1or2aweek,andnowI

knowIcanaffordit.”

46

In Charge of My Money Program Evaluation

Goals of the Study, Key Factors & Outcome Measures

TheprimarygoalofthisstudywastoassesstheoutcomesofWesleyMission’sfinancial

literacyprogramintermsofpositivechangestofinancialbehaviourinalow-income,

vulnerablepopulation.

Morespecifically,thisstudyaimedto:

- Ensuretheprogramcontentisrelevanttothecohortandevidence-based.

- Identifywhethertheprogramfacilitatessustainedimprovementinfinancial

behaviours.

- Estimatewhetherparticipantknowledgeandunderstandingareretainedafter

severalmonths.

- Ascertainhowincorporatingapracticalstrategy,suchastextmessagereminders,


Inordertoachievethesegoals,avarietyofparticipantfactorswereinvestigated,suchas:

• Demographics(gender,age,countryofbirth,highestlevelofeducation,income

bracket,mainsourceofincomebeinggovernmentbenefits).

• Programengagement(i.e.howmanyworkshopsattended,levelofmotivationduring

theprogram,whetherattendingtheprogramwascompulsory,andparticipants’

programrating).

• Changeinfinancialknowledge,attitudes,self-efficacy,andemotionalspending.

Themainquantitativeoutcomesthatweremeasured5-7monthsaftertheprogramwere:

• Changesinfinancialbehaviours:

- Changeinmoneymanagementbehaviour

- Changeinlevelofsavingbehaviour

- Changeindegreeofplanningbehaviour

47

- Changeinlevelofmonitoringexpenses

• Changeinreachingfinancialgoals:

- Howmuchtheprogramassistedinachievinggoals

- Theextentofprogresstowardsthespecificgoalidentifiedduringthe

program

• Changeinfinancialstrain:

- Thenumberofproblemsduetolackofmoney

- Thedegreeofdifficultyinpayingbills

- Howmuchmoneyisleftoverbythenextpayday

- Frequencyofaskingfamilyformoney

- Numberoffinancialproducts(i.e.financialinclusion).

• Changeinlevelofdebt

Thestudyinvestigatedalltheseparticipantandoutcomefactors,andtherelationships

betweenthem.

Inadditiontothesequantitativeoutcomes,participantsansweredseveralquestionsintheir

ownwords,therebycontributingrichqualitativedataasasupplementtothequantitative

data.Theoutcomesthatwereabletobededucedfromparticipants’qualitativeresponses

were:

- Theprogramelementsthatweremostrelevantto,andusefulfor,program

attendees.

- Programcomponentsthatwerebestremembered.

- Howtheprogramcanbeimproved.

Obtainingtheopinionsofprogramattendeeswascrucialinthisevaluationstudybecause

theprogramistargetedataspecificaudience(i.e.themostvulnerableinsociety).Aswillbe

demonstratedinthefollowingsection,studyparticipantsweredrawnfromvery

disadvantagedandmarginalisedgroupswithinthegeneralpopulation.

48

Participant Demographics

Ofthe128participantswhowererecruitedintothestudyatTime1,63completed

questionnaires5-7monthslater.Datafromninestaffparticipantswereexcludedfromthe

analysesbecausethosestaffweresosocio-demographicallydistinctfromtheother

participants.Hence,thefinalsamplesizeforthefullevaluationwas54.Therewereslightly

moremalesthanfemales,duetosomeprogramsbeingrunthroughservicestohomeless

men.TheparticipantsweremostlyborninAustraliaorborninEnglish-speakingcountries

(78%and92%respectively).ThenumberofparticipantsidentifyingasAboriginal(11%)was

overrepresentedcomparedtotheNSWstateaverageof3%(AustralianBureauofStatistics,

2013).NoparticipantsidentifiedasbeingTorresStraitIslander.Participantshadlowerlevels

ofeducationcomparedtotheaverageAustralian.In2015,26%oftheAustralianadult

population’shighesteducationalattainmentwasYear11orless,comparedtoatleast41%

ofparticipantsinthisevaluation(AustralianBureauofStatistics,2015a).Fiftyninepercent

oftheAustralianadultpopulationcompletedanon-schoolqualification,comparedto45%

ofstudyparticipants(AustralianBureauofStatistics,2015a).

ParticipantsreceivedfarlowerincomesthantheaverageAustralian.Mostparticipants

(77%)receivedanannualincomeoflessthan$32,000in2016.Thisissubstantiallylower

thantheaveragegrosshouseholdincomeforNSWin2013-2014,whichwas$111,280,and

theaverageequivalisedannualdisposablehouseholdincomeforAustraliansin2013-2014,

whichwas$51,896(AustralianBureauofStatistics,2015b).Governmentbenefitswerethe

mainsourceofincomefor85%ofparticipants,comparedto25%ofhouseholdsinAustralia

in2013-14(AustralianBureauofStatistics,2015b).Whenaskedaboutdebt,70%of

participantssaidtheywereindebtwhentheycommencedtheprogram.Mostdidnothave

childrenlivingwiththem.Participantsweredrawnfromprogramsdeliveredincentres

addressingissuesofdrugandalcoholabuse,gamblingaddiction,homelessnessandfamily

dysfunction.Someofthesecentreswereresidentialrehabilitationcentres,asshownin

Table1.Morethanhalfthestudyparticipants(54%)weredealingwithsubstanceabuse

49

and/orgamblingaddictions.Thirtyfivepercentofparticipantswerehomeless,and11%

werereceivingassistanceintheirabilitytocarefortheirchildren.

Table1:Participantdemographics

Participantcharacteristic Numberofparticipants

Percentageofparticipants

Gender

Male 32 59%

Female 22 41%

BorninAustralia 39 78%

BorninAustralia,NewZealand,UK,Ireland,USorCanada

46 92%

Aboriginalorigin 6 11%

Agebracket

21-25 7 13%

26-30 10 19%

31-35 6 11%

36-40 13 24%

41-45 6 11%

46-50 3 6%

51-55 4 7%

56-60 3 6%

61-65 2 4%

Highestlevelofeducation

Year7-10 22 41%

Year11-Year12 7 13%

TAFEortechnicalcollege 16 30%

Universityundergraduate 7 13%

Universitypostgraduate 1 2%

Incomebracket(annual)

Noincome 1 2%

$1–10,399 2 4%

$10,400–15,599 12 26%

$15,600–20,799 15 32%

$20,800–31,199 6 13%

$31,200–41,599 3 6%

50

Participantcharacteristic Numberofparticipants


$41,600–51,999 2 4%

$65,000–77,999 1 2%

$78,000–103,999 2 4%

$104,000+ 3 6%

Mainsourceofincomeisthegovernment 45 85%

Typeofcentre

Addictionrehabilitation 29 54%

Homelessness 19 35%

Familysupport 6 11%

Numberofchildrenunder18yearsoldlivingwithyou

0 36 69%

1-2 11 21%

3-4 4 8%

5-6 1 2%

Figure2:Ageofparticipants

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

21-25

26-30

31-35

36-40

41-45

46-50

51-55

56-60

61-65

Percentageofparvcipants

51

Figure3:Participants'highestlevelofeducation

Figure4:Annualincomeofparticipants

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Year7-10

Year11-Year12

TAFEortechnicalcollege

Universityundergraduate

Universitypostgraduate


0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Noincome

$1–10,399

$10,400–15,599

$15,600–20,799

$20,800–31,199

$31,200–41,599

$41,600–51,999

$65,000–77,999

$78,000–103,999

$104,000+


Insum,theparticipantsofthisevaluationwereamongstthe

mostsociallyandeconomicallydisadvantagedandvulnerablewithintheAustralianpopulation.

52

Figure5:Issuesaddressedbycentrewhereprogramwasdelivered

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Homelessness

Substanceabuse-residenval

Substanceabuse-non-residenval

Substanceabuse&gambling-residenval

Familysupport


53

Program Evaluation Research Methodology

Procedure

Studyparticipantsweresurveyedattwoseparatetimes:

• Attheendofthelastsessionoftheprogram(Time1)

• 5-7monthsaftercompletingtheprogram(Time2).

At the end of the program (Time 1)

BetweenJulyandDecember2015aresearcherfromMacquarieUniversityattended18

programdeliveriesinmetropolitanareasofSydneyandalsoinCessnockandWollongong.

TheseprogramsweredeliveredbyWesleyMissionfinancialliteracyeducatorsandfinancial

counsellorsatcollaboratingresidentialanddrop-inrehabilitationcentresforaddiction,

homelesscentres,andfamilysupportcentres.Theprogramswerealsodeliveredtosome

MissionAustraliaandWesleyMissionstaff,sothesewereincludedintheTime1data

collection.

Attheendofthelastsessionoftheprogram,aftertheprogramfacilitatorhadfinished,the

facilitatorinvitedtheresearchertojointhegroup.Theresearcherthenexplainedthestudy,

answeredanyquestions,andhandedoutconsentformsandpaperstudyquestionnaires.

Onceparticipantshadcompletedtheconsentformsandquestionnairesbyhand,theygave

thembacktotheresearcher.Theresearcherhandedeachparticipanta$20groceryonlygift

voucherinappreciationoftheirtime.Thequestionnaireswerelaterenteredintoa

computerforanalysisbytheresearcherwhoattendedtheprogramsessions.

54

Time1Participants

Atotalof128participantscompletedquestionnairesatTime1,including15staff(12%).It

wasexplainedthatparticipationinthestudywasvoluntaryandthreepeoplechosenotto

participate,givinga97.71%studyparticipationrate.

Several (5-7) months after the program (Time 2)

BetweenFebruaryandMay2016thesameresearcherattemptedtocontactallTime1

participantsbyemailand/ortelephone,atleastfivemonthsfromthetimeofthefirst

survey.Ifanemailaddresshadbeenprovidedthenparticipantswereemailed,requesting

thattheyparticipateinthesecondpartofthestudy.Intheemailparticipantswereasked

whenwouldbethebesttimefortheresearchertocall,andaskingthemtoconfirmtheir

telephonenumber.Alinktotheonlinesurveywasalsoprovidedintheemailsotheycould

completeitonlineiftheypreferredthattocompletingitbytelephone.Eachemailwas

individualisedasparticipantshadtobegiventheiruniqueidentificationnumberforthe

survey.Toensureconfidentiality,identificationnumberswereusedtomatchparticipants’

responsesfromTime1toTime2ratherthannames.Ifamobilephonenumberwasgivenat

Time1,thentheresearchersentatextmessageremindingtheparticipantoftheirinclusion

inthestudyandaskingwhenwouldbethebesttimetocalltodothesurveyoverthe

phone.Afewdayslater,theresearchertriedcallingtheparticipant,regardlessofwhether

ornottheyrespondedtothetext.

Forthetelephonesurvey,theresearcheraskedparticipantsthequestionsandrecorded

theiranswersdirectlyintoacomputer.Thistookapproximately15minutes.Participants

alsohadtheoptionofdoingthesurveyonlinebythemselves,butnotmanyexercisedthis

option.Eachparticipantwassenta$30groceryonlygiftvouchertothankthemfortheir

time,whethertheycompletedthesurveybytelephoneoronline.

55

DifficultiescontactingparticipantsatTime2

Itprovedverychallengingtocontactstudyparticipantsafewmonthsaftertheyhad

completedthefinancialliteracyprogram.Manyoftheemailaddresses‘bounced’andmany

ofthephonenumbersweredisconnectedornotreceivingincomingmessages.Oftheemail

addressesthatdidnotbounce,fewpeopleresponded,andofthephonenumberswhereit

waspossibletoleaveamessage,fewreturnedthecall.Theresearcherresentemailsatleast

twiceandtriedcallingeachparticipantatleastthreetimesatdifferenttimesofthedayand

overaperiodofafewweeks.Sinceparticipantsinrehabilitationresidentialprogramswere

onlypermittedtousetheirphonesonweekends,theresearchermademanyofthephone

callsafter5pmonFridays,inthehopeofincreasingthechancesofmakingcontact.

Althoughthisrepeatedemailingandcallingseemedtoirritatesomeoftheparticipantswho

werecharitystaffmembers,itdidnotappeartobothertheotherparticipants,mostlikely

becausetheydidnotreceivetheearlieremails,textsorvoicemessages.Acoupleof

participantsmentionedthattheyhadbeeninrehabilitationformonthsandhadabacklogof

hundredsofemails.Oneparticipantcompletedthesurveyonlinetwomonthsafterthelast

attempttocontacthim.Someparticipantswerehappytocompletethesurveywhenthe

researcherfinallymadecontactbymobilephone,eventhoughshehadhadnoresponseto

textmessagesandvoicemessages.Otherparticipantsaskedtheresearchertocallbackata

certaintime,butthendidnotanswertheirphoneatthattimeorinthedaysafterwards.

Twoparticipantswereinhospitalwhentheresearchercalled,oneofthembeingunableto

dothesurveyduetopain.Anotherparticipantwasreportedbyhismothertobenon-

contactablebecausehewasinprison.Therewasconfusionabouttheidentityofone

participantbecauseanotherstudyparticipanthadgivenhimhismobilephoneafterthe

program,andtheyhappenedtohavethesamefirstname.

Time2participants

Ofthe128Time1participants,only63completedtheTime2telephone/onlinesurvey.Four

peopleansweredtheirtelephonebutdeclinedtoparticipateintheTime2survey.The

56

responserateforTime2is49%ofthosewhocompletedtheTime1questionnaire.

However,itisunknownhowmanypeopledidnotparticipateatTime2duetochoiceand

howmanysimplydidnotreceiveanymessage,despiterepeatedandvariedattemptsto

contactthem.

Itwasapparentfromcommentsmadebyparticipantsthattheonlyreasonasmanyas49%

agreedtocompletethesurveyatTime2wasbecausetheywantedthe$30giftvoucher.

Withoutthatincentive,theresponseratewouldhaveundoubtedlybeenmuchlower.

Itwasdecidedthatthestaffparticipantsweretoodemographicallydissimilartotheother

participantsinthestudytobeabletocombinetheirresults,sothedatafromtheninestaff

whocompletedtheTime2surveywasexcludedfromfurtheranalyses.TheTime2sample

sizewasthereforereducedto54.

TheTime2participantswerenotreliablydifferentfromthosestudyparticipantswhoonly

completedtheTime1questionnaireonage,income,ormotivationlevel.However,those

participantswhocompletedTime2questionnairesweremarginallymorehighlyeducated

thanthosewhoonlycompletedTime1questionnaires(t(124)=-1.86,p=.065).

Consent,confidentiality,andvouchers

ThequestionnairesandstudyprocedurewerereviewedbytheMacquarieUniversityHuman

EthicsCommitteeandtheprojectwasgrantedethicsapproval(ethicsapprovalnumber

5201500453).AtTime1theMacquarieUniversityresearcherexplainedthestudyandits

purposetothoseattendingtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram,andstatedthat

participationinthestudywasvoluntaryandthatparticipantscouldwithdrawatanytime.

Programattendeeswerethenaskedtosignandreturnaconsentformiftheywishedtobe

involvedinthestudy.

Names,contactnumbersandemailaddresseswerecollectedatTime1sothatthe

researchercouldcontacttheparticipantsinseveralmonths’time.Toprotectparticipants’

57

confidentiality,thesecontactdetailswerewrittenonaseparatesheetofpaperandentered

intothecomputerindependentlyofthesurveyresponses.Eachparticipantwasassigneda

uniqueIDnumbersothattheirresponsesatTime1couldbecomparedwiththoseatTime

2,withoutusingnames.PostaladdresseswereonlycollectedatTime2sothatthe$30gift

vouchercouldbeposted.

Vouchersweresentviaregisteredmail,toensuretheirdelivery.Despitethis,fivevouchers

werereturnedtosenderandparticipantsneededtobecontactedagainandthevouchers

resent.Oneparticipantaskedforhisvouchertobesenttothehospitalwherehewas

currentlyapatient.TwoparticipantsaskedtocollectthevouchersfromWesleyMission,

onebecauseheneedediturgentlyandtheotherbecausehewashomelessandhadno

address.

Questionnaires

ThequestionnairesatTime1andTime2werealmostidentical.Themaindifference

betweenthemwasthattheTime1demographicquestionswerenotrepeatedintheTime2

questionnaire.Thecontentofthequestionnairesdrewuponvalidatedinstrumentsusedin

long-runningfinancialliteracyprogramssuchasSaverPlus(Russell,Stewart,Cull,2015)and

theUKfinancialcapabilitysurvey(Atkinson,2011).Relevantadaptationsweremadetosuit

thecohortandcontextoftheInChargeofmyMoneyprogram.

Theareascoveredbythequestionnaireswere:

• Demographics(gender,age,placeofbirth,highestlevelofeducation,numberof

childrenlivingwithyou,mainsourceofincome,incomebracket)

• Reasonsforattendingtheprogramandmotivationlevel

• Programratingandfeedback

• Financialself-efficacy(i.e.self-confidenceinthefinancialdomain)

• Moneybehaviour

• Generalfinancialknowledge

• Personalfinancialknowledge

58

• Degreeofemotionalspending

• Financialstrain

• Howoftenparticipantsaskfamilyorfriendsformoney

• Financialinclusion(i.e.thenumberoffinancialproducts)

• Financialresilience(i.e.couldparticipantsraisemoneyforanunexpectedexpense)

• Howdifficultithasbeentopaybillsandcoverexpenses

• Howtheparticipanthasbeenmonitoringtheirspending

• Howtheparticipanthasbeensavingtheirmoney

• Howfarinadvancetheparticipantplanstheirspending

• Howoftentheyhavemoneyleftoverbythenextpayday

• Questionsaboutfinancialgoals

• Whetherornottheyhavemoneyputasidetocoverexpensesinanemergency

• Changeindebtfivemonthsaftertheprogram.

Thequestionnairescollectedinformationthatwasbothquantitative(i.e.abletobe

measuredinnumbers)andqualitative(i.e.quotesfromparticipants).Bygathering

quantitativedata,improvementsinfinancialbehaviours,knowledge,attitudes,self-efficacy

andemotionalspendingwereabletobemeasuredandstatisticallyanalysedtoascertainif

thechangeswerestatisticallysignificantandthuslikelytobegenuinechanges.

Thequalitativedataprovidedrichinformationregardinghowtheprogramactuallyimpacted

participants’livesandabouttheaspectsoftheprogramthatweremostrelevantand

helpful.AtTime1participantswrotetheiranswerstothequalitativequestionsonthe

questionnaire,andatTime2thosewhocompletedthesurveyonlinetypedintheiranswers.

ForthosewhodidtheTime2surveyviathetelephone,theMacquarieUniversityresearcher

typedparticipants’wordsintothecomputerastheywerespeaking.

ThesewerethequalitativequestionsparticipantswereaskedatTime1:

• Whydidyougivetheprogramthisscore(rating)?

• Howcouldtheprogrambeimproved?

59

• Whatisyourfinancialgoal?

AtTime2participantswereasked:

• Whatdoyourememberfromtheprogram?

• Whywouldorwouldn’tyourecommendthisprogramtoyourfriends?

• Whatpartoftheprogramhelpedyouachieveyourgoalsthemost?

Data Analysis

ThequantitativeanalyseswereconductedusingtheSPSS21statisticalprogram.Descriptive

statisticswereusedtofindthepercentagesofparticipantsthathadparticular

characteristicsandtheaveragescoresforthemeasures.RepeatedMeasuresANOVAswere

usedtodetermineifchangesinthefactorsmeasuredovertime(e.g.,tofinancial

behaviours)werestatisticallysignificant(i.e.thattheyhada95%probabilityofnot

occurringbychance).Pearson’scorrelationswereconductedtoexploreassociations

betweenparticipantfactorsandimprovementsinfinancialliteracy.Multipleregressionwas

employedtoascertainwhichparticipantfactorsweremoststronglyrelatedtothefinancial

literacyoutcomes,afteraccountingforotherfactors.Thequalitativedatawereanalysedby

themesandbycountingthenumberoftimeseachtopicwasmentionedbyparticipants.

Quotesfromstudyparticipantsareprovidedasexamplesoftheirfeedback.Aplainlanguage

explanationofthemeaningofeachstatisticaltestwillbeprovidedwiththestatistical

analyses.

Inshort,thereareanumberofdifficultiesandcomplicationsconductingresearch

withdisadvantagedandvulnerablecohorts

60

Program Evaluation Results

TheprimaryaimofthisstudywastoevaluatetheeffectivenessoftheInChargeofMy

Moneyprogramforvulnerablepopulations.However,otherareasofinterestwerealso

explored.

Theresultswillbepresentedinfivemainsections:

• Participantprogramengagement,feedbackandknowledgeretention

• Changesinfinancialbehavioursandreachinggoals

• Changesinfinancialknowledge,attitudes,self-efficacyandemotionalspending

• Changesinfinancialstrain

• Theparticipantfactorsmostrelatedtochangesinfinancialbehavioursandstrain

• Theeffectivenessoftextmessagenudgesinmaintainingbehaviourchangeover

time

Participant Engagement with the Program

ThereasonswhyparticipantsattendedtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramwerecollected

toinvestigatewhetherornottherewereoutcomedifferencesbetweenthosewhoattended

theprogramvoluntarilyandthosewhoseattendancewascompulsory.

Reason for attending the program

AsseeninTable2,theprimaryreasonwhyparticipantsattendedtheInChargeofMy

Moneyprogram(65%)wasbecauseitwasacompulsorypartofanotherprogramtheywere

enrolledin.Someparticipants(18%)attendedbecauseitwassuggestedbytheircase

worker.

61

Table2:Reasonswhyparticipantsattendedtheprogram

Reasonforattendingtheprogram Numberofparticipants


ItwasacompulsorypartofanotherprogramIwasattending

35 65%

Itwassuggestedbymycaseworker 10 18%

Itwassuggestedbymyemployer 1 2%

Iheardaboutitandwantedtoattend 8 15%

Main money issue

Attheendoftheprogram,participantswereaskedwhatthemainmoneyissuewasthat

theyhadhopedtheprogramwouldassistthemwith.AsseeninTable3below,themain

moneyissuesrelevanttotheparticipantswererelatedtobudgetingandmoney

management.

Figure6:Whatwasthemainmoneyissueyouhopedthisprogramwouldhelp?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Helpmetomakeendsmeet

Helpmewithbudgevng

Helpmetosave

Helpmetosetmoneygoals

Helpmetoreducedebt

Helpmetomanagemoneybexer

Helpmetotrackexpenses

Other

PercentageofParvcipants

62

Level of motivation

Approximatelyhalftheparticipantsweremoderatelymotivated,withnearlyonequarter

onlybeingalittlemotivated,andonefifthbeingextremelymotivated(seeTable4).

Therefore,themotivationlevelofparticipantswasgenerallyquitegood.Itwaspredicted

thatparticipantswithhigherlevelsofmotivationwouldhavebetteroutcomesthanthose

withlowerlevelsofmotivation.

Figure7:Participants'levelofmotivationduringtheprogram

Program attendance

Thenumberofprogramworkshopsattendedwasofinterestbecauseitwassurmisedthat

themoreworkshopsaparticipantattended(i.e.thegreatertheprogramdosage),thebetter

theoutcomeswouldbe,astheprogramwouldhaveagreaterimpactonparticipants.As

showninTable5,themajorityofparticipants(67%)hadattendedallfourworkshops,and

onlyfiveparticipantshadonlyattendedoneworkshop.Therefore,programattendance

ratesweregenerallyquitehighandtherewasnotmuchvariationinprogramdosage.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Notatallmovvated

Alixlemovvated

Moderatelymovvated

Extremelymovvated


63

Table3:Numberofworkshopsattendedbyparticipants(dosage)

Numberofworkshopsattended

Numberofparticipants


1 5 9%

2 7 13%

3 6 11%

4 36 67%

Participant Feedback on the Program

Program rating at the end of the program

Attheendofthelastworkshopoftheprogram,participantswereaskedtoratetheprogram.Participantsratedtheprogramveryhighly,withanaveragescoreof8outof10(seeTable6).

Figure8:Outof10,howwouldyouratethisprogram?

Whenaskedwhytheyhadgiventheprogramthatscore,29participants(54%)commented

thattheinformationwashelpfulorinterestingorrelevant.Forexample:

“Allusefulinformation”

“Bearinginmindthetargetaudienceitiswellsuited”

“BecauseitwasinformativeandmademethinkbeforeIspent”

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Num

bero

fparvcipants

Score

64

“Itwasclear,conciseandbestofall,relevant”

“Ifoundittobeinformative,andinsomecases,confronting”

“Ifounditveryinformativeanduseful”

“Iknewalotoftheinformationalready,butrevisitingitwashelpful”

“Itgavemeideasaboutgettingmyfinancesbackinorder”

“Ithasalotofusefulinformationtohelpthosewhowanttohelpthemselves”

“Wasveryinformativeandcoveredabroadrangeofareas”

“Veryinformativeaboutdebt,interestratesanddifferentformsofdebt/credit”

Eightparticipantscommentedthattheprogramhelpedthemlearnspecificmoneymanagementskills:

“ItwasveryinterestingandIlearnedalotofinformationabouthowtoreallymanagemymoneybetterthanIhavebeen”

“Ithelpedmetolearnaboutmanagingmymoney”

“BecauseIlearntalotofskillssurroundingmydebts”

“Gavemeincentivetosave,thinkwhatIamspendingon(Iamanimpulsiveandcompulsivespender)andbudgetinginformation,whichIwilluse”

“Becausetheprogramhelpedmelearnhowtosavemoney”

“HelpmerealizehowIcanmanagemymoney”

“Becausetheygavemetheinformation.Learnaboutbudgetingandmanagingmoney”

Severalparticipantsmadepositivecommentsregardingthepresentersorpresentation:

“[Facilitator’sname]’sknowledge”

“Facilitatorwasveryinformativeandusedeasilyunderstandableterms”

“Greatpresenter,presentation”

“Itwasveryeducationaland[facilitator’sname]presenteditreallywell.Answeredallmyquestions”

“[Facilitator’sname]wasgreat”

“Veryinformative,wellpresentedandspokenby[facilitator’sname]:)”

“Itwasverywellconstructedandinformative.Verywellpresented”

“Visualtools,lecturer,andinformation”

65

Sevenparticipantsgavelesspositivereasonsfortheirscore:

“BecauseIwasn'tthatinterested”

“Wasn'trelevantatallforme”

“Ibasicallyknowalltheinfo”

“Becauseitneedssomegames,moreinteractive”

“Itmaybeexplainedinalittlemoredetail”

“Itonlyhelpedmeabitsofar”

“Speakercouldbetterexplainthings.Savingmentionedbutnotreallyhowtoorhowmuchyoushouldsave”

Figure9:Whydidyougivetheprogramthatrating?

Recommending the program to friends

Severalmonthsaftercompletingtheprogram,participantswereaskediftheywould

recommendtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramtotheirfriends.Themajority(85%)said

thatyes,theywouldrecommendtheprogramtotheirfriends.Onlyfourparticipants(7.5%)

saidtheywouldnotrecommendittotheirfriends.Anotherfourparticipants(7.5%)saidit

woulddependonwhetherornottheirfriendsneededtheprogramorwereinterestedinit.

Thefactthat85%ofparticipantswouldrecommendtheprogramtotheirfriendsis

consistentwiththehighprogramratingnotedearlier.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Informavonrelevant/interesvng/helpful

Learntmoneymanagementskills

Goodpresentavon/presenters

Notinterested/helpful


66

Whenaskedwhytheywouldorwouldnotrecommendtheprogram,participantsgavethe

followingresponses,consistentwiththecommentsontherelevanceandusefulnessthe

programmadebyparticipantsseveralmonthsearlier:

Yes,Iwouldrecommendtheprogramtomyfriends

“Definitely,itjustsortofhitshome,makesyouthinkaboutthingsmore.Iusedtoliveonedayatatime,butnowI’mthinkinginthenext20years”

“Forsure,becauseitislesssortoftextbook,it’smorerelevantthansomeoftheothercoursesI’vedone(I'vedonebusinesscoursesbefore)butthiswasmorerelevanttomySES

level”

“Yesasitwasveryinformative”

“Yesbecauseitmakesfinancialplanningeasierandlessstressful,andalsoinformsyouofhiddeninterestinplaces”

“Yesbecauseitmayhelpthem”

“YesIsupposeIwould.Iworkedinthebankfor10yearsbutIstilllearntstuff”

“YesIwould,becauseit'spracticallikealotofpeopledon'tthinkaccordingtowhatwe'velearnt,notmanythinklikethat,theyjustspendwhattheygetwithoutthinkingaboutit.This

programteachesyoutothinkabouthowyouspendyourmoney”

“Yes,becauseIthinkI'mmoneywisebuttherearealotofpeoplethataren't.It'sgoodbasicinformationthateveryoneshouldknow”

“Yes,becauseitdoesgiveyouaninsightintowhatyouweredoingwrong,spendingmoremoneythanyou'vegot”

“Yes,becauseitwasbeneficialtomesoitmightbebeneficialtothem”

“Yes,becauseitwaseasytounderstand,helpful,simpleandclear,nottoocomplicatedatall”

“Yes,I’vetoldmysonanddaughteraboutit.Becauseit’suseful,theneedtobudgetandsticktoit”

“Yes,Ithoughtitwaswonderful,quickandsimplebutlearntindepthhowtomanageyourmoney,andtolearnaboutthebudgetwebsite”

“Yes,I’vetoldafewpeopleaboutit.Iunderstoodit.It’seasiertounderstandthanotherprograms”

“Yes,wastalkingtomynieceaboutittheotherday.Atthetimeitwasveryhelpfulanditdidmakemethinkaboutthings”

67

“Yes!Asitreallymakesyouthinkaboutthemoneyyou’respendingandhownottogetintomoredebt”

“Yes.ItwasprettybasicbutIneededtohearit”

“Yes.Itwasveryinformative,withuseful&practicaltipsonmoneymanagement”

No,Iwouldnotrecommendthisprogramtomyfriends

“Ihavealotoffriendswhoarebusinesspeoplesotheydon'tneedit”

“No,ithasn'tgotenoughstrategies”

“Nobecausemostofmyfriendsworkandhavetheirownfinancialplanners–theydon'tneedit”

“Nottomyfriends,butbeneficialforthoseongovernmentbenefitsorthosewhoconsistentlystrugglefinancially”

“Mostdefinitely.Ifoundwithmedoingthecourseit'staughtmetofocusonwheremymoneyisgoingandwhereI'mspending.Idon'tjustthrowcrapinthetrolley,likechocolatesandlollies,anymore.NowIaskmyself,‘doIneedthat?’andIthink,‘noIdon’t’,soIputitback.It'salsotaughtmetoplanmymeals.”

68

Itdepends

“IftheyneededhelpIwould,becauseitgivesadviceaboutmoney”

“IftheywereinterestedIwould”

“Itdependsonthem-ontheircircumstances,iftheyneedit”

“Possibly,ifavailable,theyshoulddoit,mostarealreadyawareoftheirspending,butlittle

thingshelpevenpeoplewhoareOKwithmoneye.g.budgeting,beingmoreconsciousof

whatyouarespending,thenitbecomesahabittothinkbeforespendyourmoney”

Suggested areas for improvement

Whenasked“WhichpartsoftheInChargeofYourMoneyProgramneedtobeimproved”,

halfansweredthatnoimprovementisneeded,theylikeditjustthewayitis(seeTable4).

Table4:Whichpartsoftheprogramneedtobeimproved?

Areasforimprovement Numberofparticipants


Noimprovementneeded,Ilikeitjustthewayitis

28 52%

ThePowerPointslides 8 15%

Theinformationcouldbemorerelevant 6 11%

Other 5 9%

Thepresenters 4 7%

Theworksheets 3 6%

Theknowit,understandit,doit,reviewitstructure

0 -

Insum,most(85%)ofparticipantssaidtheywouldrecommendtheprogramto

theirfriendsbecauseitiseasytounderstand,relevant,andhelpful.

69

TheeightpeoplewhothoughtthePowerPointslidesneededtobechangedsaidthefollowing:

- “Addpictures/videosforstimulation”- “Couldbeeasiertoreadandunderstand”- “Icouldn'tseethem-toosmall”- “Lesscreditcardinfonoteligible”- “Morepictures”- “MostIcouldn'tread-toosmall”- “Theyarequiterepetitive”

Thoseparticipantswhoticked“other”asneedingimprovement,said:

- “Session3wasinformationoverload”- “Games,prizes”- “Moregroupparticipation”- “Theinformationcouldbemoreindepth”- “Toomuchrepetition”

Commentsfromthefourwhosaidthepresenterneededimprovement,were:

- “Boringandnotwellsuitedforpublicspeaking”- “explainedmore”- “Repeatsthemselvestoomuch”

Twoofthethreepeoplewhosuggestedtheworksheetsneededtobeimprovedsaid:

- “Iwasn'tsurewhattowrite”- “Therearen'tenoughnotesintheworksheets”

Nocommentsweremaderegardinghowtoimprovetherelevanceoftheinformation,

exceptthatcreditcardinformationwasnotrelevanttomostparticipantsastheywerenot

eligibleforacreditcard.

Insum,participantswereverysatisfiedwiththecontent,relevanceand

presentationoftheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram,ratingitveryhighly,onaverage,

andhavingfewcomplaints.

70

What Participants Remembered 5-7 Months After the

Program

Knowledgeandunderstandingretentionfromtheprogramseveralmonthslaterwasakey

areaofinterest.Aneffectivefinancialliteracyprogramisonewherethebenefitsofnew

knowledgeandunderstandingendureovertimeratherthanbeingquicklyforgotten.In

ordertoexaminethisretention,participantswereasked5-7monthsaftercompletionofthe

InChargeofMyMoneyprogram,“Whatdoyourememberabouttheprogram?”

Almosttwothirdsofparticipants(65%)rememberedthattheprogramwasaboutbudgeting

andmoneymanagementgenerally,withnospecifics.Justoveraquarterofparticipants

recalledmoredetailedinformationaboutthedifferenttypesofloans,howtomanagedebt,

andthedangerofpaydayloans.Approximatelyonequarteralsorememberedspecific

adviceaboutbeingmindfulofspendinghabits,includingimpulsebuying,spending“leaks”,

askingoneself“doIreallyneedthis?”,onlytakingthemoneythatyouneedtotheshops,

andplanningwhatyouwillspendbeforegoingtotheshops.Almostaquarterrecalledtips

abouthowtosave,suchas“payyourselffirst”,putchangeinthemoneybox,saveevery

dollar,andeverylittlebitcounts.Fourparticipants(7%)mentionedresourcesandnow

knowingwheretogetfinancialhelp,suchastheMoneySmartwebsiteandawarenessof

financialcounsellors.Onlysixparticipants(11%)rememberedlittleornothingfromthe

program.

71

Figure10:It'sbeen5monthssinceyoudidtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram.Whatdoyourememberfromtheprogram?

N.B.Thesepercentagesdonotaddupto100%becausesomeparticipantsrememberedmultipleaspectsoftheprogram.

BudgetingandMoneyManagementGenerally

Sixty-fivepercentofstudyparticipantsrememberedthattheprogramwasaboutbudgetingandmoneymanagementingeneral,asshownintheseexamples:

“Budgetingandbeingmoreawareofwhat'sgoingoutversuswhat’scomingin”

“Budgetingreally,andtryingtostartsaving”

“Irememberittellingmehowtohandlemyfinances,thingstolookoutfor,likefees,andhowtocreateyourownbudget”

“Howtobudget”

“Reinforcingthefactthatmanagingmoneyneedsagoodbudget-differencebetweenincomeandexpenses.I’llnevergetapaydayloanafterthecourse”

“Howtoplanabudgetandkeepitsimple”

“Ittaughtmehowtofocusonwhatwasimportantandnot,andhowtobudgetbetterthanIwas”

“Itwaslikeabasiconhowtomanagemoney”

“Learningaboutdifferentwaystomanageyourmoney”

“Moneymanagement,saving,budget,saveadollareveryday”

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Budgevng&moneymanagement

Spendinghabits

Loans&managingdebt

Howtosave

Resources

Notmuch


72

SpendingHabits

Twenty-sixpercentofparticipantsrecalledlearningaboutspendinghabitsorbecomingmoreawareofhowtheyspenttheirmoney:

“Basicallypointstothinkaboutwhenbuying,likeimpulsebuyingwasthebigthingItookawayfromthat”

“IrememberthatIwasshockedtoseejusthowmuchmoneyIwastedonthingsIdidn'treallyneed”

“BasicallysortofIsupposebemorecarefulwhenIspendmymoney.Insteadofbuying2ofsomethingonlybuyone.SonowIonlybuy1packofsmokesinsteadof2,soI’msmoking

lesstoo”

“Discoveringwheremymoneyleaks”

“Learningtobemoremindfulofspendinghabits”

“ThesedaysIhavemoneyleftover.IttaughtmehowtobudgetandhowtobemorecarefulinwhatIspendmymoneyon”

“Yougottoplanwhatyou'regoingtospendbeforeyougototheshops.NowIavoidgoingtoshopsthatsellavarietyofthings.Askyourself,like,doIreallyneedthis,question

yourselffirst”

Alot’shappenedsincethen(theprogram)asIwasinrehab.It’shardtobudgetbecauseI’mstillonlimitedmoney.Carproblems

havebeenexpensive.Irememberthespreadsheetandthewebsitetodoyourbudgetandenterexpenses.Iremember

[facilitator’sname],she’saverygoodpresenter.AlotwasstuffIalreadyknew,butit’shardtogettothepointofbeingabletohaveabudget.Ihadsomecreditcards,whichIamnowpayingoff.I’vereducedmydebtbyhalfbecauseIpaiditoffinonego.I

saved$450dollarsbydoingthat(insteadofpaying$10perfortnight).”

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Loans&ManagingDebt

For28%ofparticipants,informationabouthowtoreducedebt,thedifferencebetweenthetypesofloansandbeingmoreawareofinterestrates,werethetopicstheyremembered:

“AdsaboutbaddebtonTV,steerclearofthem,paydayloans,steerclearofthem,howimportantitistodoabudget”

“Gettingtoknowwhatourneedsare,andthetypesofloans,goodandbadloans”

“Learningaboutdifferenttypesofloansandwhatnottotouch”

“Someaccountsthatyoucanopenup,smallloansprogram(NILS)-IendedupgettingaNILSloan”

“Irememberthebudgetingaspectofit,abitaboutthehelpfinancialcounsellorscangiveyou,differentaccountsandwhattheirbenefitsare,andalsolookingatwhereyourmoneyisgoingandhowmuchisspentonthingsyoudon'tneedorotherpeople”

“Irememberitbeingmorehelpfulthananyotherprogramandhelpedmegetfamiliarwithinterestandcreditcards.Themostmemorablethingwasaboutdebt,it’snevertoolatetosortout

debt”

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HowtoSave

Tipsonhowtosavemoneywererememberedby24%ofstudyparticipants:

“Alotofdetailaboutsavings,alotaboutpayingyourbills,likeputtingmoneyasideand

workingoutabudget,avoidingloans(especiallythoseonTV),budgetingmainly.Iwantedto

learnhowtosavebecauseI’veneverbeengoodatdoingthat.”

“Howtosavemoney,howtobudget”

“Justaboutpayingyourselffirst,makingsureyouhavemoneyforyourbills.BecauseI’mon

thepension,Ihavebillstakenoutfirst.WhenIgoshopping,IonlytakewhatIneed(cash)

andusemycardaslittleaspossible.It’sgoingwell,I’mevensavingabit”

“Justthatyou'reincontrolofyourownmoney.Payyourselffirst”

“Irememberittaughtushowtolookatourfinancesandhowtore-evaluateitandhowto

setgoals”

“Justabouthowyousavemoneyandwhatnotandmakeaplan,stufflikethat”

“rememberbudgetingandpayingmyselffirstandstoppingimpulsebuying,puttingloosechangeinmymoneybox.EverydayIputaside$3atleast,soIcanpaythebills.It’sworkingformereallywell,especiallybecauseI'monalimitedbudget.I’m

notgoingintodebt,I’mnotborrowinganymore.””

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ResourcesAvailable

Sevenpercentofstudyparticipantsrecalledinformationaboutwhereandhowtofindfinancialhelpandresources:

“Writingdownyourincomeandexpensesandseeingwhetheryouspendmorethanyou

earn.Irememberthewebsiteswhereyoucangotoseeifyouborrowmoneyhowlongthe

loanwilllastandhowmuchyou’llhavetopay”

“Avenuesforfinancialhelpandsupportcreditratings-howtheywork,howtoviewand

updateloans-shorttermloanpitfallsetc.”

RememberedVeryLittlefromtheProgram

Only11%ofparticipantsreportedrememberingnothingorverylittlefromtheprogram:

“Notmuchatall”

“Notmuchreally,justthateverylittlebitcounts”

“Ididitinrehab,I’mnotthereanymore.Ican'trememberalot”

“Notmuch”

“Notmuchtobehonest,somethingaboutbudgeting”

“Ican'trememberwhatitwasabout”

Inshort,mostparticipantsrememberedthattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramwasaboutbudgetingandmoneymanagement

generally,andmanyparticipantsalsorememberedspecificknowledgeandspendingorsavingtips.Onlysixparticipantssaidtheyremembered

littleornothingfromtheprogram.

Consideringthatmostofthesestudyparticipantswereinresidentialdrug,alcoholorgamblingaddictionrehabilitationcentresorhomelessatthetimeofdoingtheprogram,thislevelofknowledgeretentionis

impressive.

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Improvement in Financial Behaviours

Themainaimofthisevaluationprojectwastoidentifytheoutcomesoftheprogramon

participants’financialknowledge,attitudesandbehaviours,andwhethertherewas

sustainedchangeovertime.Consistentwiththeconceptualmodelforfinancialcapability

(Kempson,Collard,&Moore,2006),changeinactualmoney-relatedbehaviourwas

consideredthemostimportantindicatorofprogrameffectivenessandwastheprimary

focusofthisevaluation.Toassessimprovementinfinancialbehaviours,thefollowing

specificfinancialbehavioursweremeasured:

MoneyBehaviour

Participantswereaskediftheystronglydisagreed,disagreed,neitheragreednordisagreed,

agreedorstronglyagreedwithfourstatementsrelatingtomoneybehaviours.Theywere

askedthesequestionsinrelationtothreepointsintimes;beforetheydidtheprogram,

immediatelyaftertheprogram,and5-7monthsaftercompletingtheprogram.Asking

participantsattheendoftheprogramtoanswersomequestionsastheybelievetheywould

havebeforetheydidtheprogram,isreferredtoas‘retrospective’questioningandis

consideredsuitableforlow-incomepopulationswhereresearchparticipationisdifficultto

obtain(Lyonsetal.,2006).Thestatementsmeasuringmoneybehaviourwere:

• BeforeIbuysomethingIcarefullythinkaboutwhetherIcanaffordit

• WhenIshopIspendtimecomparingpricestogetthebestdeal

• IbuythingsevenwhenIcan’treallyaffordthem

• Ibuythingsoncreditratherthanwaitingandsavingup

MonitoringExpenses

Tomeasurethedegreetowhichparticipantsmonitoredtheirexpenses,bothbeforethe

programandthen5-7monthsaftertheprogram,theywereaskedthisquestion:

• Whichoneofthefollowingbestdescribeshowyoumonitoryourexpenses?

o Idon’tkeepaneyeonexpensesatall

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o Ikeepmyeyeonexpensesabit

o WithoutkeepingwrittenrecordsIkeepafairlycloseeyeonexpenses

o Iusewrittenrecordstokeepaneyeonexpenses

SavingBehaviour

Tomeasureparticipants’moneysavingbehaviour,bothbeforetheprogramandthen5-7

monthsaftertheprogram,theywereaskedthisquestion:

• Whichofthefollowingbestdescribesyoursavingbehaviour?

o Isaveasetamountonaregularbasis

o Isavewhatisleftoveronaregularbasis

o IsaveoddamountswhenIcan

o Iamunabletosave

PlanningBehaviour

Tomeasurethewayparticipants’plantheirspending,bothbeforetheprogramandthen5-

7monthsaftertheprogram,theywereaskedthisquestion:

• Howdoyouplanyourspending?

o Overthenextweekorfortnight

o Overthenextfewmonthsto1year

o Overthenext2-4years

o Overthenext5yearsormore

o Idon’tplan

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Was there evidence of improved financial behaviours for program

participants immediately after and 5 months after the program?

Asthetablebelowshows,therewassignificant,positivebehaviourchange5-7monthsaftertheprogramacrossallfourbehaviouraldomains.Theeffectsizesofthesechangesweresubstantialandrobust.

Table5:Evidenceofimprovedfinancialbehaviours5monthspostprogram

Measure Wastheresignificantimprovementovertime? Fstatistic EffectSize

(partialeta2)

Moneybehaviour

Yes,therewasasignificantimprovementbetweenbehaviourbeforetheprogramandattheendoftheprogram,andbeforetheprogramandafterseveralmonths.Therewasnosignificant

differencebetweenimmediatelyaftertheprogramandseveralmonthslater,indicatingthattheimprovementsweresustainedovertime(see

Figure11

F(2,94)=15.71

p<.0005

n=48

.250

(verylarge)

Monitoringexpenses

Yes,therewasasignificantimprovementbetweenmonitoringexpensesbehaviourbefore

theprogramandafterseveralmonths.

F(1,53)=24.35

p<.0005

n=54

.315

(verylarge)

Savingbehaviour

Yes,therewasasignificantimprovementbetweensavingbehaviourbeforetheprogramand

afterseveralmonths.

F(1,53)=6.09

p=.017

n=54

.103

(medium)

Planningbehaviour

Yes,therewasasignificantimprovementbetweenplanningbehaviourbeforetheprogram

andafterseveralmonths.

F(1,53)=6.74

p=.012

n=54

.113

(medium)

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Figure11:Changestomoneybehavioursacrossthethreemeasuredtimepoints

What do the statistics show?

TheF-Statisticisameasureofhowdifferenttheaveragescoreforameasuredfactor(for

example,financialbehaviour)isatthedifferenttimesitwasmeasured.AlargerF-statistic

numbermeansthedifferenceisbigger.Thep-valueindicateshowlikelyitisthatthis

differenceisduetochance,withalowerp-valueindicatingalowerlikelihood.Theeffect

sizenumberreflectshow‘strong’androbusttheeffectis(e.g.,thedifferenceinaverage

scoresatthe3times).Aneffectsizebetween.01and.05isconsideredasomewhatweak

effect;between.06and.13amedium(moderatelystrong)effectandover.14astrongand

robusteffect.Thestrongeraneffectisthemorelikelyitwouldbefoundagainifthesame

studywererunagain(forexample,withadifferentgroupofprogramparticipants).

Thus,thefindingsforfinancialbehaviours(seeTable5andFigure11)showthat:

• Therewasaclearimprovementinfinancialbehavioursfrombeforetheprogramto

immediatelyafterit;

• Fivetosevenmonthslater,thosegainsinpositivebehaviourshadnotdeclined;

• Thelikelihoodthesegainswereduetochanceisverylow(lessthan1in1000);

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• Thesizeofthiseffectwasverylargeandrobust;

• Togetherthesestatisticssuggestthattherewasasignificantimprovementin

financialbehavioursduringtheprogram,thatthisimprovementwasretainedover

time,thattheimprovementwassubstantialandrobust,andthattheresultscanbe

trusted;

• MonitoringexpensesandMoneybehaviourswerethemostimprovedbehaviours.

Identifying and Achieving Financial Goals

Beingabletoidentifyafinancialgoalandsuccessfullyworktowardsitisconsideredakey

indicatoroffinancialcapability.Therefore,whetherornotparticipantshadidentifiedagoal,

howmuchtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramhelpedthemachievetheirgoals,andthe

extentofactualprogresstowardsthespecificgoaltheyhadchosenduringtheprogram,

wereinvestigated.

Setting goals

Ofthe38participants(70%)whodidnothaveafinancialgoalbeforedoingtheprogram,30

ofthese(79%)hadagoalbytheendoftheprogram.AsshowninTable10,onlyeightstudy

participants(15%)didnothaveafinancialgoalbytheendoftheprogram.

Figure12:Participantgoalsettingbeforeandaftertheprogram

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Nogoalbeforeprogram,nogoalazerprogram

Nogoalbeforeprogram,goalazerprogram

Hadgoalbeforeprogram,hasgoalazerprogram


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What were participant’s goals?

DuringtheInChargeofmyMoneyprogram,participantsareaskedtoidentifyafinancial

goaltoworktowards.Thegoalstendedtofallintothreecategories:

• Tosavemoneyortosaveforsomethinginparticular,forexample:

o “tosave”

o “TosaveandhaveaccesstomyownmoneyifandwhenIneedit”.

o “trytosavealittle”

o “Savecloseto30%ofmoneyIearn.15%emergency15%luxuries”

o “Saveforahouse”

o “saveforanoverseasholidayin2016”

o “Savemoneyformynewhome,likefurniture,bondmoney,etc.”

o “Savemoneytogoawayforaweekend”

o “Buynewelectricshaver”

o “GobacktoThailand”

o “Newcar”

50%ofparticipantsidentifiedsavingmoneyorsavingforsomethingspecific,astheir

goal.

• Toreducedebt,forexample:

o “Addressdebts”

o “Bedebtfree”

o “Contactfinancialcounsellortorepayandmanagedebts”

o “Payloans”

o “payoffmortgage”

o “Reduceallmydebt”

Tenparticipants(19%)saidthatpayingofftheirdebtswastheirgoal.

• Tobeabletobudgetandgenerallymanagetheirmoneybetter,forexample:

o “Budgetandsave”

o “Budgetbetter”

o “Getmorefinanciallystable”

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o “Keepabettereyeonthings”

o “Tomanagemymoneybetterandstoplending”

Sevenparticipants(13%)reportedthatbudgetingandimprovedmoney

managementwastheirgoal.

Did the program help participants achieve their financial goals?

Toanswerthatquestion,participantswereaskedseveralmonthsaftertheprogram:

• Howmuchdidthisprogramhelpyouachieveyourfinancialgoals?

Only6participants(11%)saidtheprogramdidnothelpthemachievetheirfinancialgoalsat

all,andmorethanhalf(56%)saidtheprogramhelpedthem‘alot’or‘verymuch’.

Figure13:Howmuchdidthisprogramhelpyouachieveyourfinancialgoals?

What helped participants achieve their goals the most?

Whenaskedwhichpartoftheprogramhelpedthemtoachievetheirfinancialgoalsthe

most,participants’responsesfellintofivemaincategories:

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Notatall

Alixle

Alot

Verymuch


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• Becomingawareoftheirspendinghabitsandtheneedtoplanandprioritizetheir

spending

• Budgetingingeneral

• Informationaboutloans,debtandcredit

• Goalsettingandhowtosave

• Theprogramdidnothelpverymuchortheycouldnotremember.

Figure14:Whatpartoftheprogramhelpedyoutoachieveyourgoalthemost?

N.B.Thepercentagesdonotaddupto100%becausesomeparticipantsrespondedwithmorethanone

partoftheprogram.

Spendingbehaviour

Thirty-fivepercentofparticipantsreportedthatlearningpositivespendinghabitsandbecomingmoreawareoftheirownspendinghabits,wastheaspectoftheprogramthattheyfoundthemosthelpful.Forexample:

“Thinkbeforeyouspend–IonlytakethemoneyIneedtotheshopsnow”

“Understandingmyspendingpatterns”

“NotspendingonthingsIdon'tneed”

“Notusingyourmoneywastefully,havingpriorities”

“Prioritizingandthinkingahead(e.g.prepayingbillsinsteadofspendingthemoney)”

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Spendingbehaviour

Budgevng

Loan&debtinformavon

Goals&howtosave

Nothingmuch


Partso

fthe

program

84

“ThehandoutsreflectingbackandhowIcanchangemyhabits”

“Idon'tspendasmuchoncoffeeandcigarettesnow”

“IthinkjustwritingeverythingdownthatIspend,keepingreceipts-Ispendalotofmoneyonfood”

Budgeting

Twenty-eightpercentofstudyparticipantssaidtheinformationonbudgetinghelpedthemachievetheirgoalthemost:

“Definitelythebudgetingone,nowIwriteashoppinglistandmakesureIworkitallout”

“Creatingandworkingtoabudget”

“Budgetingbasically”

“Justbudgeting,weeklyandfortnightly”

“Thebudgetingpartandhowtosavemoney”

Loananddebtinformation

Thesamenumberofparticipants(i.e.28%)reportedthatitwastheinformationabouthowtoreducedebtandunderstandinghowdifferentloansworkedthatmosthelpedthemachievetheirfinancialgoal:

“Learningaboutloansandhowbadtheyare”

“Wheretogetinterestfreeloans(Ihadtoborrow$500)-Ididn'tknowaboutthatbefore”

“Gettingtoknowthetypesofloanswehave,thegoodandbadloans”

“Notgettingintotroubleloaningmoneywithhighinterest”

“LookingatwhatIspendmymoneyone.g.takeawaycoffee,

watchingwhatIspendmymoneyone.g.doIneedthismagazine?”

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“Debt,budgeting,paydayloaninformationinparticular”

“Toknowthatyoucanringandaskforextensionsandaskforapayplan”

“Waystomanagemydebt”

Howtosave

Someparticipants(17%)recountedthatitwassettingsomegoalsandlearningabouthowtosavethatmostassistedtheminachievingtheirgoal.Forexample:

“Savingacertainamountofmoneyeachweek”

“Savings”

“KnowingthatIcanhaveasavingsaccountthatIcan'ttouch”

“I’vestartedputtingmoneyintoasavingsaccount.BeforeIwithdrewthemoneybeforeI

sawit.Ididn'twanttodothecoursebecauseIthoughtIknewitall.ButIstartedputting

moneyasidethatI’veneededandI’vealreadyusedit(foranunexpectedexpenses)”

“Ithelpedalotbecauseitputsyouinabettermindset,notwastingyourmoney,heading

towardsyourgoalsbetter.Idon'twanttogointodebt,soI’lljustwaitandsaveandpayfor

thingsoutrighte.g.carandholiday”

“Putitinperspective,payingoffasmallamountisbetterthanbecomingoverwhelmedandnotdoinganything”

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Nopartoftheprogramhelpedmuch

Only13%ofstudyparticipantsstatedthattheprogramdidnothelpthemachievetheirgoal:

“Nothing”

“Notatall”

“Can'trecallthatmuchaboutitspecifically”

“Idon'tremember”

To what extent did participants achieve the specific goal they

identified during the program?

Severalmonthsaftertheprogram,participantswerealsoaskedtorateonascalefrom1-10

howmuchprogresstheyhadmadetowardsthespecificfinancialgoalthattheyhad

identifiedduringtheprogram.

ItcanbeseeninFigure15thatactualprogresstowardsaspecificgoalwasmorechallenging

forparticipants,withanaveragescoreof5.7outof10.Someparticipantswhenaskedthis

questionexplainedthatprogresshadbeenhamperedbyunexpectedexpenses(e.g.car

repairs)orpersistentunemployment,orotherissuesoutsidetheircontrol.

“I’msavingeveryfortnightnow,andhavesaved$2000.I’mveryhappywiththat.AndIstillhavemybillspaid,I’mnotshort,asIhavedirectdebitcomingoutofthebank.Idon'twastemoneyonthingsIdon'tneedanymore.I’mactuallybecomingabitofa

miser”

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Insummary,theInChargeofMyMoneyprogramhelpedthemajorityofthoseparticipantswithoutfinancialgoalstoidentifyone,andoverhalfsaidtheprogramhelpedthemachievetheirfinancialgoals‘alot’or‘verymuch’.Adviceonhowtochangespendinghabitswasreportedtobethepartoftheprogramthatmostassistedparticipantsachievetheirgoals.However,theextentofactualprogresstowardstheirspecificgoalwasoftenhamperedbyunexpected

and/oruncontrollablecircumstances.

Figure15:Onascalefrom1-10,towhatextenthaveyoumadeprogresstowardsthefinancialgoalthatyouhadattheendoftheprogram?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Num

bero

fparvciaptns

Score

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Improvement in Financial Knowledge, Attitudes, Self-Efficacy

and Emotional Spending

Theneedforincreasedfinancialknowledgeandimprovedattitudestowardspersonal

financesinordertodeveloppositivefinancialbehaviourshasbeenrecognised(Robson,

2012).Factualknowledgebyitselfisnotenoughtoproducechangesinbehaviour.Thelink

betweenknowledgeandbehaviourismediatedbypersonalcharacteristicssuchasattitudes

andself-efficacy(ConsumerFinancialProtectionBureau,2015).

Inthisevaluationstudy,financialknowledgewasdividedintotwotypesofknowledge;

generalfinancialknowledgeandpersonalfinancialknowledge.

Bothtypesofknowledgeweremeasuredbyaskingparticipantstorespondtocertain

statementsona5-pointscale,where1=stronglydisagreeand5=stronglyagree.They

wereaskedthesequestionsinrelationtothreepointsintimes;beforetheydidthe

program,immediatelyaftertheprogram,and5-7monthsaftertheprogram:

Thegeneralfinancialknowledgestatementswere:

• IknowwheretogethelpifIhavefinancialproblems

• Ihaveagoodunderstandingofthedifferenttypesoffinancialproducts(suchas

loans,creditcards,paydayloansorsavingsproducts)

• WhenIwanttoborrowmoneyIknowthemostimportantquestionstoask(suchas

findoutthecostofborrowing)

Thepersonalfinancialknowledgestatementswere:

• IknowhowmuchIneedformydailylivingexpenses

• IknowhowmuchmoneyIowe

• Iknowwhenmybillsaredue

• Iknowhowtobudget

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Was there evidence of improved general and personal financial

knowledge for program participants immediately after and five -

seven months after the program?

Ascanbeseeninthetablebelow,therewasstatisticallysignificantimprovementinbothgeneralandpersonalfinancialknowledgefrombeforetheprogramtoimmediatelyaftertheprogramandtoseveralmonthsaftertheprogram.Theeffectsizesoftheseimprovementswereverylargetoextremelylarge.

Table6:Wastheresignificantimprovementovertime?

Measure

Wastheresignificantimprovementovertime?

Fstatistic

EffectSize

(partialeta2)

Generalfinancialknowledge

Yes,therewasasignificantimprovementbetweengeneralfinancialknowledgebeforetheprogramandattheendoftheprogram,andbeforetheprogramandafterseveralmonths.Therewasnosignificantdifferencebetweenimmediatelyaftertheprogramandseveralmonthslater,indicatingthattheimprovementsweresustainedovertime.Theeffectsizeofthisdifferencewasextremelylarge.

F(2,98)=104.27

p<.0005

n=50

.680

(extremelylarge)

Personalfinancialknowledge

Yes,therewasasignificantimprovementbetweenpersonalfinancialknowledgebeforetheprogramandattheendoftheprogram,andbeforetheprogramandafterseveralmonths.Therewasnosignificantdifferencebetweenimmediatelyaftertheprogramandseveralmonthslater,indicatingthatthechangesweresustained.Theeffectsizeofthisdifferencewasverylarge.

F(2,96)=24.09

p<.0005

n=49

.334

(verylarge)

AsTable6aboveandFigure16belowshow,participants,onaverage,hadaconsiderableincreaseinfinancialknowledge,bothgeneralfinancialknowledgeandknowledgeabouttheirownfinancialsituation,thatwasretained5-7monthsaftertheprogram.Theincreaseingeneralfinancialknowledgewasbothsubstantialandveryrobust,andmusthavebeenexperiencedbymostoftheparticipantstoproducesuchstrongstatisticalresults.Again,the

90

tinyp-valuesshowthatthereisanextremelylowlikelihoodthatthesefindingswereduetochance.

Figure16:Levelsoftotal(combinedgeneralandpersonal)financialknowledgeacrossthethreemeasuredtimepoints

Was there evidence of improved financial attitudes and financial self-

efficacy, and less emotional spending, for program participants

immediately after and five months after the program?

AttitudestoMoney

Attitudestomoneyweremeasuredbyaskingparticipantsiftheystronglydisagreed,

disagreed,neitheragreednordisagreed,agreedorstronglyagreedwiththefollowingthree

statements.Theywereaskedthesequestionsinrelationtothreepointsintimes;before

theydidtheprogram,immediatelyaftertheprogram,and5-7monthsaftertheprogram:

• Ibelievemoneyistheretobespent

• IbelievethewayImanagemymoneytodayaffectsmyfuture

• Iammoreofasaverthanaspender

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Thetablebelowshowsthatnosignificantimprovementwasfoundinthefinancialattitudes

ofparticipants,onaverage,frombeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthsaftertheprogram.

Table7:Wastheresignificantimprovementinparticipants'financialattitudesovertime?

Measure


Fstatistic

EffectSize

(partialeta2)

Financialattitudes

Althoughtherewasasignificantimprovementinattitudesbeforetheprogramcomparedtoattheendoftheprogram(seestatistics),therewasnosignificantimprovementfrombeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthslater.Furthermore,therewasasignificantdeclineinattitudebetweenimmediatelyaftertheprogramandseveralmonthslater,indicatingthattheimprovedattitudesfromtheendoftheprogramwerenotsustainedovertime.

F(2,98)=18.26

p<.0005

n=50

.271

(verylarge)

Althoughnosignificantimprovementwasfoundinfinancialattitudesofparticipantson

average,datapresentedintheforthcomingsection(“Participantfactorsmostrelatedto

improvementsinfinancialbehavioursandstrain”)showsthatchangeinattitudeswas

significantlycorrelatedwithchangeinfinancialbehaviours,suggestingthatwhenprogram

participantsdidhaveimprovementsinfinancialattitudestheyalsohadmorepositive

financialbehaviours.

FinancialSelf-Efficacy

Higherlevelsoffinancialself-efficacy,definedashavingconfidenceinone’sabilitytodeal

withvarioussituationsinthefinancialdomain,havebeenshowntobeassociatedwith

betterfinancialoutcomesinpastresearch(Lown,2011).TheFinancialSelf-Efficacy(FSE)

scalewasusedtomeasurethisfactorinthepresentstudy,andhasbeenfoundtohave

adequatereliabilityandvalidity(Lown,2011).Itiscomprisedofsixstatementsand

participantswereaskediftheystronglydisagree,disagree,neitheragreenordisagree,agree

orstronglyagree,withthefollowingstatements:

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• Itishardtosticktomybudgetwhenunexpectedexpensescomeup

• Itishardtomakeprogresstowardsmyfinancialgoals

• WhenIhaveunexpectedexpenses,Iusuallyhavetousecredit

• WhenIhavefinancialproblems,itishardtoworkoutasolution

• Ilackconfidenceinmyabilitytomanagemyfinances

• Iworryaboutrunningoutofmoneyinretirement

ItcanbeseeninTable8belowthatnosignificantimprovementinfinancialself-efficacy,on

average,wasfound.However,similartofinancialattitudes,whilenosignificant

improvementwasfoundforparticipantsonaverage,thisfactorwassignificantlycorrelated

withimprovedfinancialbehaviours(seesectiontitled“Participantfactorsmostrelatedto

improvementsinfinancialbehavioursandstrain”),suggestingthatwhenprogram

participantsdidhaveimprovementsinfinancialself-efficacytheyalsohadmorepositive

financialbehaviours.

Table8:Wastheresignificantimprovementinparticipants'financialself-efficacyovertime?

Measure


Fstatistic

EffectSize

(partialeta2)

Financialself-efficacy

Onaverage,therewasnosignificantimprovementinfinancialself-efficacyfrombeforetheprogramtotheendoftheprogram,norbeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthslater,norfromtheendoftheprogramtoseveralmonthslater.However,theimprovementinfinancialself-efficacyfrombeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthsaftertheprogramdidapproachsignificance,withp=.066.Itispossiblethatwithalargersamplesizeasignificantimprovementacrosstimemayhavebeenfound.

F(2,86)=2.107

p=.128

n=44

.047

Emotionalspending

Somepeoplespendmoneyforpsychologicalreasons,suchastorelievestressor

unhappiness(e.g.,Desarbo&Edwards,1996).Therefore,wemeasuredtheextentof

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emotionalspendingbyaskingparticipantsiftheystronglydisagreed,disagreed,neither

agreednordisagreed,agreedorstronglyagreedwiththefollowingtwostatements:

• WhenI’mfeelingdownIspendmoneytofeelbetter

• WhenI’mfeelingstressedIspendmoneytofeelbetter

Thefollowingtableshowsthat,onaverage,therewasnostatisticallysignificant

improvementinemotionalspending.

Table9:Wastheresignificantimprovementinparticipants'emotionalspendingovertime?

Measure


Fstatistic

EffectSize

(partialeta2)

Emotionalspending

Therewasnosignificantimprovementinemotionalspendingfrombeforetheprogramtotheendoftheprogram,norbeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthslater,norfromtheendoftheprogramtoseveralmonthslater.

F(2,96)=1.48

p=.233

n=49

.030

Althoughthestatisticsshowthat,onaverage,therewaslittledeclineinemotionalspending,

itisimportanttonotethatthisfindingislikelyanartefactofthedifferingresultsofthe

groupswhodidanddidnotreceiveatextmessagenudge.Participantswhoreceivedthe

textmessagenudgehadadecreaseinemotionalspendingduringthecourseoftheprogram

andthenafurtherdecrease5-7monthslater(seeFigure24,insection“Theeffectivenessof

textmessagenudges”).Incontrast,thosewhodidnotreceivethenudgehadadecreasein

emotionalspendingacrossthecourseoftheprogrambut5-7monthslaterhadreturnedto

emotionalspendinglevelssimilartothoseatthestartoftheprogram.Thusitseemsthat

thedifferingresultsforthesetwogroupsmayhave‘cancelledeachotherout’whenthe

datawerecombined.Nevertheless,itseemstheprogramdidnotfacilitatereductionsin

emotionalspendingwithoutbeingcomplementedwithafurtherintervention.

94

Insummary,therewaslittlestatisticalevidenceofsustainedchangeinfinancialattitudes,financialself-efficacy,and

emotionalspending,aftertheprogram.

Participants’ Financial Strain

Aswellasexaminingparticipantschangeinfinancialbehaviours,knowledge,attitudes,self-

efficacyandemotionalspendingseveralmonthsaftertheprogram,thisstudyinvestigatedif

participantsexperiencedchangestolevelsoffinancialstrainbyaskingparticipantsseveral

questionsregardingtheircurrentfinancialcircumstances.

Thefirstquestionaskedparticipantsiftheyhadexperienced,overthepastfewmonths,a

numberofindicatorsoffinancialstrain.

Was there evidence of fewer problems due to a shortage of money

from before the program to 5-7 months later?

ItcanbeseenfromTable10thattherewasasubstantialdecreaseinthenumberof

problemsduetoashortageofmoneyfrombeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthsafterthe

program,with26%ofparticipantsnowreportingthatnoneofthesethingshappenedto

themduetoashortageofmoney,comparedto11%inthefewmonthsbeforethey

commencedtheprogram.Thereweredecreasesacrossallindicatorsoffinancialstrainfrom

beforetheprogramtofivetosevenmonthsaftertheparticipantscompletedtheprogram.

Forthiscohort,thisisanimportantoutcome.Althoughthereareanumberoffactorsthat

mayhavecontributedtothisimprovementinfinancialcircumstances(e.g.beingfreeof

addiction,nowhavingajob),itdoessuggestthattheprogrammayhavehadapositive

impactonparticipants’financialcircumstances.

95

Figure17:Inthepast5months,didanyofthefollowinghappentoyoubecauseofashortageofmoney?

Table10:Wasthereasignificantreductioninthenumberofissuesduetoshortageofmoneyovertime?

Measure


Fstatistic

EffectSize

(partialeta2)

Numberofissuesduetoshortageofmoney

Yes,participantsreportedsignificantlyfewerissuesduetoashortageofmoneyfrombeforetheprogramcomparedtoseveralmonthsaftertheprogram.Theeffectsizeofthisimprovementwasmoderate.

F(1,53)=4.55

p=.038

n=54

.079

(medium)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Couldnotpayelectricity,gasortelephonebills

Couldnotpaytherentormortgageonvme

Pawnedorsoldsomething

Wentwithoutmeals

Askedforfinancialhelpfromfamilyorfriends

Askedforhelpfromwelfareorcharives

Wenttoashopfrontpaydaylender

Usedanonlinepaydaylender

No,noneofthesethingshappenedtome


Beforeprogram 5-7monthsazerprogram

96

Was there evidence of reduced debt 5-7 months after the program?

ReducingdebtisaprimaryfocusoftheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramandimportantin

reducingfinancialstress.

After5-7months,participantswereasked:

• Overthepastfewmonths,hasyourlevelofdebt:

o Increased

o Stayedthesame

o Decreased?

AscanbeseeninFigure18,ofthe70%ofparticipantswhocommencedtheprogramwith

debt,almosthalf(47%)hadreducedtheirdebtseveralmonthsaftertheprogram.

Figure18:Overthepastfewmonths,hasyourlevelofdebtincreased,decreasedorstayedthesame?

Did participants feel less stressed about their future since doing this

program?

AsreportedinWesleyMission’s2010thirdfinancialstressreport(WesleyMission,2010),

financialstressimpactsonpsychologicalstressaboutthefuture.Therefore,participants

wereaskediftheyfeltlessstressedaboutthefutureafterdoingtheInChargeofMyMoney

program.ItcanbeseenfromFigure19belowthatalmosttwothirds(63%)ofparticipants

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Increased

Stayedthesame

Decreased

Percentageofparvcipantswhocommencedprogramwithdebt

97

saidtheyfeltlessstressedaboutthefuturesincedoingtheprogram,suggestingthatthe

programmayhavehadsomeeffectongeneralstressaboutthefuture.

Figure19:Doyoufeellessstressedaboutthefuturesincedoingthisprogram?

Was there greater financial inclusion for participants several months

after the program?

Financialinclusionreferstohavingaccesstoarangeoffinancialproductsandservices,and

isanindicatorofavailablefinancialresources(Muiretal.,2016).Inthisstudy,financial

inclusionwasmeasuredbyaskingparticipantsiftheyhadanyofalistoffinancialproducts,

thensummingthenumberofproductstocreateafinancialinclusionscore.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

No Yes

Percen

tageofp

arvcipants

Answer

98

Figure20:Doyouhaveanyofthefollowingtypesoffinanceproducts?

Table11:Wastheresignificantimprovementinfinancialinclusionovertime?

Measure


Fstatistic

EffectSize

(partialeta2)

Financialinclusion

Yes,participantsreportedsignificantlymorefinancialproductsseveralmonthsaftertheprogramcomparedtoattheendoftheprogram.Theeffectsizeofthisincreasehoweverwassmall.

F(1,53)=12.23

p=.001

n=54

.019

(small)

AscanbeseeninFigure20,oneparticipant(2%)didnotknowwhatfinancialproductsthey

had.Only8participants(15%)hadacreditcard,andthisdidnotchangeovertime.Five

people(9%)hadamortgage,andthisdidnotchangeoverseveralmonths.Onlythree

participants(6%)hadapersonalorcarloan5-7monthsaftertheprogram,comparedtosix

people(11%)beforetheprogram.Forallotherfinancialproductstherewassignificantly

greaterinclusionseveralmonthsaftertheprogram.Asshownintheabovetable,therewas

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Transacvonaccount(e.g.everydayaccount)

Savingsaccount(notusedforeverydaycosts)

Mortgage

Creditcard

Superannuavon

Personalloanorcarloan

Insurance(e.g.car,home)

Visa/Mastercarddebitcard

Idon'tknow


Financialprodu

ct

Beforetheprogram 5-7monthsazertheprogram

99

significantimprovementinfinancialinclusionforstudyparticipants5-7monthsafterthe

program.

Did more participants have money set aside for emergencies?

Havingmoneyavailableincaseofemergenciesisanindicatorofparticipants’financial

resilience.Participantswereasked,“Doyouhavemoneyputasideforemergenciesand/or

savingstocoveryourexpensesifyougotsickorlostyourjob?”

Attheendoftheprogram,35%ofparticipantssaidtheyhadmoneysetasidefor

emergencies,but5-7monthsaftertheprogram,52%ofparticipantssaidtheyhadmoney

reservedforemergencies,showingsubstantialimprovement.Havingafinancialbufferisa

keycomponentoffinancialwell-beingandservestoreducestress.Individualsliving

financiallyprecariouslivesareatmostriskofpoorhealthandlong-termfinancialhardship.

Was there a change in participants’ financial resilience?

Participantswereaskedthefollowingquestioninordertogaugeanunderstandingoftheir

financialresilience(abilitytocopewithfinancialshock):“Ifyouhad1weektoraise$1,000

foranunexpectedexpense,howwouldyouraisethemoney?”

AsseeninFigure21,noparticipantssaidtheywoulduseacreditcard,ateithertimepoint.

Noonesaidtheywoulduseanonlinepaydaylenderseveralmonthsaftertheprogram,

whichwasaslightdecreasefromtwowhosaidtheywouldusethismethodattheendof

theprogram.Thenumberwhosaidtheywouldborrowfromashopfrontpaydaylender

decreasedmarginallyfromthreetotwoparticipants.Therewasanincreasein‘usemy

savings’and‘borrowmoneyelsewhere’fromtheendoftheprogramtoseveralmonths

aftertheprogram.Ofthefive(9%)whosaidtheywouldborrowmoneyelsewhereseveral

monthsaftertheprogram,threeparticipantssaidtheywoulddoovertimeatworkorobtain

themoneyfromworkinotherways,suggestingsomeparticipantshadfoundemployment

betweentheendoftheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramandthesurvey5-7monthslater.

100

The“FinancialResilienceinAustralia2015”report(Muiretal.,2016),basedona

representativesampleof1,496Australians,foundthat17%ofAustralianswouldnotbeable

toraise$2,000withinaweekincaseofanemergency,comparedto37%ofparticipantsin

thepresentstudyatTime1.However,atTime2,only20%ofstudyparticipantswouldnot

beabletopayanunexpectedexpense,whichissimilartotheAustralianaverage,although

theamountinthisstudywasonly$1,000not$2,0001.Inthepresentstudy50-54%of

participantswouldusetheirsavingstopayforanunexpectedexpense,comparedto83%of

Australians(Muiretal.,2016).Furthermore,31%ofAustralianswoulduseabankloanor

creditcardtopayforanunexpectedexpense,comparedtonostudyparticipantswhowould

useacreditcard.Thesefindingsreflecttheverylimitedresourcesofsavingsandcredit

cardsavailabletothesestudyparticipants,comparedtotheaverageAustralian.

1Theloweramountof$1,000waschosenforthisstudygiventhedifficultfinancialcircumstancesofthecohort.If$2,000wasusedasintheABSmeasure,therewouldbelittletonochangeinparticipants’abilitiestoraisetheamount.

101

Figure21:Ifyouhad1weektoraise$1000foranunexpectedexpense,howwouldyouraisethemoney?

Was there improvement in other indicators of financial strain?

Otherindicatorsoffinancialstrainandhardshipwerethefrequencythatparticipantsasked

familymembersformoney,thelevelofdifficultlyinpayingbillsandcoveringexpenses,and

howoftentheyhadmoneyleftoverbythenextpayday.

Askingfamilymembersformoney

Participantswereasked:

• Howoftendoyouaskotherfamilymembersformoney(notincludingyourpartnerorchildren)?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

AdvanceonCentrelinkbenefit

Usemysavings

Usemycreditcard

Borrowmoneyfromfamilyorfriends

Nointerestloanscheme

Shopfrontpaydayloan

Onlinepaydayloan

Iwouldn'tbeabletopayit

Borrowmoneyelsewhere


Attheendoftheprogram 5-7monthsazertheprogram

102

Participantscouldanswerwithoneofthefollowing:

• Never• Occasionally(aboutoncepermonth)• Regularly(aboutevery2weeks)• Frequently(everyweek)

Difficultypayingbills


• Inatypicalmonth,howdifficultisitforyoutocoveryourexpensesandpayallyourbills?


• Notatalldifficult• Alittledifficult• Moderatelydifficult• Verydifficult• Extremelydifficult

Moneyleftover


• Inatypicalmonth,howdifficultisitforyoutocoveryourexpensesandpayallyourbills?


• Always• Mostofthetime• Sometimes• Rarely• Never

Asseeninthetablebelow,althoughparticipants,onaverage,askedfamilyformoneyless

frequently,founditlessdifficulttopayalltheirbills,andhadmoremoneyleftover5-7

monthsaftertheprogramthanbeforetheprogram,theseimprovementsdidnotreach

statisticalsignificance.Theseresultsshowthatimprovingfinancialliteracycannotbea

stand-alonestrategyforimprovingthefinancialwell-beingofindividuals,especiallythose

whoareexperiencingpoverty.Sufficientincomeiscriticaltobeabletoputintopracticethe

behavioursnecessaryforfinancialwell-being.

103

Table12:Wastheresignificantimprovementsseeminindicatorsoffinancialstrain?

Measure


Fstatistic

EffectSize

(partialeta2)

Askingfamilyformoney

Participantsaskedfamilymembersformoneylessfrequentlyseveralmonthsaftertheprogramcomparedtoattheendoftheprogram,butthisdifferencewasnotstatisticallysignificant.Thisimprovementapproachedsignificanceandmayhavebeensignificantifthesamplesizewaslarger.

F(1,52)=3.07

p=.086

n=53

.056


Participantsfounditlessdifficulttopaytheirbillsandmeettheirexpensesseveralmonthsaftertheprogramcomparedtoattheendoftheprogram,butthisdifferencewasnotstatisticallysignificant.

F(1,53)=2.52

p=.118

n=54

.045

Moneyleftover

Participantshadmoremoneyleftoverbythenextpaydayseveralmonthsaftertheprogramcomparedtoattheendoftheprogram,butthisdifferencewasnotstatisticallysignificant.

F(1,53)=1.86

p=.179

n=54

.034

Insummary,theresultsforimprovementsinfinancialstrainandhardshipseveralmonthsaftertheprogramweremixed.Therewasevidencethatparticipantsexperiencedfewerproblemsduetoa

shortageofmoney,hadreduceddebt,feltlessstressedaboutthefuture,hadmorefinancialproducts,andweremorelikelytohavemoneysetasideforemergencies,5-7monthsaftertheprogramcomparedtobeforetheprogram.However,therewasnostatisticallysignificantimprovementinaskingfamilyformoney,difficultypayingbills,or

havingmoremoneyleftover.

104

Participant Factors Most Related to Improvements in Financial

Behaviours and Strain

Inadditiontoexaminingwhetherornotthereweresignificantandsustainedchangesin

participants’financialbehavioursandfinancialstrainseveralmonthsaftertheInChargeof

MyMoneyprogram,wewereinterestedinwhichparticipantfactorsweremostclosely

associatedwiththesechanges.Thisisdonebymeasuringthecorrelationbetweentwo

measuredfactors–thedegreetowhichonefactorchangessystematicallywithchangesin

another2.

Identifyingsignificantassociationsbetweenparticipantfactorsandoutcomessuggests

whichfactorsweremostinfluentialonparticipants’subsequentchangesinbehaviour.Using

correlationalanalyses,thefactorsmostcloselyassociatedwiththefollowingoutcomesas

measuredatTime2(5-7monthsaftertheprogram)wereinvestigated:

• Improvedmoneybehaviours

(i.e.thinkingcarefullyaboutwhetherIcanaffordsomethingbeforebuyingit,

spendingtimecomparingpricestogetthebestdeal,notbuyingthingsifIcan’t

reallyaffordthem,andwaitingandsavingupratherthanbuyingthingson

credit)

• Improvedlevelofsavingbehaviour

• Improvedlevelofplanningbehaviour

• Improvedlevelofmonitoringofexpenses

• Howmuchtheprogramhelpedachievefinancialgoals

2Correlationscanrangefrom-1.0to+1.0,withnumbersclosertozeroshowingalowcorrelationandnumberscloserto+/-1ahigher

correlation.Forexample,thecorrelationofheightwithagemightbeveryhighinchildhood(say.70orgreater)becauseaschildrengrow

theygenerallyalsogettaller.Oncepeopleareadultshowever,heightwouldchangeverylittlewithage,andsothecorrelationwouldbe

verysmall(maybe<.03)andreflectonlytinydecreasesinheightwitholdage.Correlationsarethoughtofasweakiftheyarelessthan.30,

moderatebetween.30and.60,andstrongabove.60.Itisimportanttobeawarethatcorrelationalanalysesdonotshowcausation(i.e.if

twofactorsarecorrelated,itdoesnotmeanthatonecausestheother,asfactorAcouldcausefactorB,factorBcouldcausefactorA,or

therecouldbeanotherfactorthatcausestheassociationbetweenfactorsAandB).

105

• Theextentofprogressmadetowardsthespecificfinancialgoalchosenduringthe

program

• Fewerproblemsduetoashortageofmoney

• Lessdifficultypayingbills

• Moremoneyleftoverbythenextpayday

• Lessfrequentlyaskingfamilyformoney

• Reduceddebt,forthosewhohaddebtatthecommencementoftheprogram.

Improvement in attitude

AsshowninAppendix1,ofalltheparticipantfactorsinvestigatedinthisstudy,

improvementinattitudestospending(i.e.degreeofagreementtothestatements,‘Ibelieve

moneyistheretobespent’,‘IbelievethewayImanagemymoneytodayaffectsmyfuture’,

and‘Iammoreofasaverthanaspender’)wasthemostreliablystatisticallysignificantly

factorrelatedtoimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours.

Specifically,improvedattitudesweresignificantlyandmoderatelyrelatedtoimprovements

inmoneybehaviour,savingbehaviour,monitoringexpenses,achievinggoals,andreducing

debt.Attitudestospendingwerealsomarginallyassociatedwithimprovedplanning

behaviour.Itisinterestingthatimprovedattitudeswereconsistentlyassociatedwitha

rangeofimprovedfinancialbehavioursconsideringthat,onaverage,theimprovementin

attitudesattheendoftheprogramwasnotsustainedovertime(seep.91).These

correlationssuggestthateventhoughtherewasnosustainedimprovementinattitudes

overseveralmonthsforstudyparticipantsonaverage,therewasarelationshipbetween

improvedattitudestospendingandimprovedfinancialbehavioursovertimeforthose

participantswhodidexperiencechange.

Improvement in financial self-efficacy

Improvementinfinancialself-efficacy,whichisconfidenceintheabilitytomanagefinances,

wassignificantlyandmoderatelyrelatedtoimprovementsinmoneybehaviourand

monitoringexpenses,howmuchtheprogramhelpedthemachievetheirgoals,progress

106

towardsaspecificfinancialgoal,andfewerproblemsduetoashortageofmoney.Similarto

improvementinattitudes,findingthatimprovedfinancialself-efficacywasassociatedwitha

numberofimprovedfinancialbehaviourswassomewhatsurprisinggiventhat,onaverage,

nostatisticallysignificantimprovementinfinancialself-efficacywasfoundaftertheprogram

(seep.92).Thesecorrelationssuggestthateventhoughtherewasnosustained

improvementinfinancialself-efficacyoverseveralmonthsforstudyparticipantson

average,therewasastatisticallysignificantrelationshipbetweenimprovedfinancialself-

efficacyandimprovedfinancialbehavioursovertimeforthoseparticipantswhodid

experiencechange.

Program engagement

Howhighlyaparticipantratedtheprogramattheendofthelastsessionoftheprogram

wasconsistentlyandmoderatelyassociatedwithimprovedfinancialbehaviours,butitwas

notrelatedtoreducedfinancialstrain.Specifically,higherratingsoftheprogramwere

linkedtoimprovedmoneybehaviours,improvedplanningandmonitoringbehaviours,and

theperceptionthattheprogramhadhelpedthemachievetheirfinancialgoals,several

monthslater.Thelevelofmotivationduringtheprogramwassignificantlyandmoderately

relatedtoonlyoneoutcome;improvedmoneybehaviours.Thesefindingsdemonstratethat

theextentthatprogramattendeesbelievedtheprogramwasbeneficialattheendofthe

programwasassociatedwithhowmuchtheirfinancialbehavioursimprovedmonthslater,

andthatmotivationduringtheprogramappearedtohavelittleinfluenceonmost

subsequentbehaviours.

General & personal financial knowledge

Verylargestatisticallysignificantandsustainedimprovementsinbothgeneralandpersonal

financialknowledgefrombeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthslaterwerefound.The

subsequentquestion,however,waswhetherornottheserobustimprovementsin

knowledgewereassociatedwithimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours,sinceincreased

knowledgedoesnotreducefinancialstrainexceptthroughchangedbehaviours.Asshown

inAppendix1,improvedfinancialknowledge,combininggeneralandpersonalfinancial

107

knowledge,weremoderatelysignificantlycorrelatedwithimprovedmonitoringofexpenses

andhowmuchtheprogramhelpedparticipantsachievetheirfinancialgoals.Financial

knowledgewasalsomarginallyrelatedtoimprovedmoneybehaviourandhavingmore

moneyleftoverbythenextpayday.Thesesignificantassociationsbetweenknowledgeand

financialoutcomessuggest(butdonotprove)thatincreasedfinancialknowledgemayplay

anecessaryroleinchangingfinancialbehaviours.

Emotional spending

Somewhatsurprisingly,giventhattherewasnodecreaseinemotionalspendingfiveto

sevenmonthsaftertheprogram,reducedemotionalspending(i.e.lessspendingmoneyto

feelbetterwhenfeelingdownorstressed)wasmoderatelysignificantlyassociatedwith

improvedmoneybehaviour,howmuchtheprogramhelpedtheparticipantachievetheir

financialgoals,andfewerproblemsduetoashortageofmoney.Thesefindingssuggestthat

addressingemotionalspendingmaybeimportantinfinancialliteracyprograms,butthatthe

benefitsmaybemostsignificantforthoseforwhomemotionalspendingisanissue.

Participant factors not associated with improvement in financial

behaviours or financial strain

Itisimportanttonotethoseparticipantfactorsthatwerenotsignificantlyassociatedwith

improvementsinfinancialbehavioursaftertheprogramasthesemayalsoprovideuseful

informationforfinancialliteracyprograms.Nodemographicfactors,includinggender,

countryofbirth,age,highestlevelofeducation,andincome,werestatisticallysignificantly

associatedwithanyimprovementsinfinancialbehavioursorreducedfinancialstrain.These

findingssuggeststhattheinfluenceoftheprogramonimprovedfinancialbehaviourswas

notrelatedtogender,age,nationality,educationlevelorincome,andthereforetheIn

ChargeofMyMoneyprogrammayberelevanttoabroadrangeofpeoplewithinvulnerable

populations.However,itshouldberememberedthattherewaslittlevariationincultural

andlinguisticbackgroundinthiscohort,withmostbeingborninAustraliaorotherEnglish

speakingcountries.Thestudyparticipantswerealsoquitehomogenousonindicatorsof

108

socioeconomicstatus,withgovernmentbenefitsbeingthemainsourceofincomefor85%

ofparticipants.Therefore,thisevaluationcannotcommentontheeffectivenessofthe

programforculturallyandlinguisticallydiversepopulations,orforthosefromhigher

socioeconomicpopulations.

Inadditiontodemographicfactors,twoprogramengagementfactorswerenotstatistically

significantlyassociatedwithanyimprovementsinfinancialbehavioursorreducedfinancial

strain.Thenumberofworkshopsattended,alsoreferredtoastheprogram‘dosage’,was

notrelatedtoprogramoutcomes.However,themajorityofparticipants(78%)attendedall

orthreeofthefourworkshops,sotherewaslittlevariationinthisfactor.

Theotherprogramengagementfactorthatwasnotrelatedtoimprovementsinfinancial

knowledgeorbehaviours,ortoreducedfinancialstrain,waswhetherornotparticipants

attendedtheprogrambecauseitwasacompulsorypartofanotherprogramtheywere

involvedin,suchasadrugandalcoholrehabilitationprogram.Thisknowledgeisrelevant

becauseitsuggeststhatthosepeoplewhodonotvoluntarilychoosetodotheInChargeof

MyMoneyprogram,maybenefitfromittoasimilarextentasthosewhochoosetoattend

voluntarily.Thisisconsistentwiththefindingthatmotivationlevelduringtheprogramwas

onlyrelatedtooneoutcomevariable,asnotedpreviously.Takentogether,thesefindings

suggestthatincludingtheprogramasacomponentofotherprogramsandservicesmaybe

aneffectivewaytoimprovethefinancialliteracyofalargenumberofmarginalisedand

vulnerablepeople.

The most predictive participant factors

Inadditiontodiscussingthesignificantassociationsbetweenparticipantfactorsandarange

ofprogramoutcomes,itisalsousefultoidentifywhichparticipantfactorsremain

significantlyassociatedwiththeoutcomesaftertakingtheotherfactorsintoaccount.

Appendix2showsthatsomeparticipantfactorsaresignificantlyandmoderatelycorrelated.

Thetwoprogramfactors,motivationlevelandprogramrating,werestronglycorrelated(r=

.66,p<.0005),aswerethetwoknowledgefactors,generalandpersonalknowledge(r=.61,

p<.0005).Multipleregressionswereconductedasawayofworkingoutwhichfactorsmost

109

stronglypredictedbetteroutcomeswhenallthefactorswereconsideredtogether.

Improvedgeneralfinancialknowledge,improvedpersonalfinancialknowledge,improved

attitudestospendingmoney,improvedfinancialself-efficacy,lessemotionalspending,

programratingatcompletion,andlevelofmotivationatthebeginningoftheprogram,

wereallinitiallyenteredintoastepwise,backwardmultipleregressionforeachofthekey

outcomemeasures.TheresultsofthesemultipleregressionsaregiveninAppendix1.

Consistentwiththecorrelationalresults,financialself-efficacyandattitudestowards

spendingwerethemostfrequentlyindependentlypredictiveparticipantfactorsinthefinal

models.Theotherfactorsthatwereimportantpredictorsofgoodoutcomesinsome

analyseswereprogramrating,personalfinancialknowledge,andemotionalspending.

110

The Effectiveness of Text Message Nudges

Withtheubiquitoususeofmobilephonesandtextmessaginghascomeanincreased

interestinhowtextmessagescanbeusedtoprompt,or‘nudge’,peopletowardspositive

behaviours.Forexample,textmessaginghasbeenusedtoincreasetheuptakeofinfluenza

vaccinations(Chaietal.,2013),helppeoplestopsmoking,encouragemorephysicalactivity,

reminddiabetespatientstotaketheirmedications,assistinweightloss(Cole-Lewis&

Kershaw,2010a;Fjeldsoe,Marshall,&Miller,2009),encourageadherencetoadaily

medicationregimenforthoselivingwithHIV(Finitsisetal.,2014),remindschoolleaversof

therequiredtasksneededtoentercollege(Castleman&Page,2015),promotesexual

healthinyoungpeople(Gold,Lim,Hellardetal.,2010),improvecreditscoreratings(Bracha

&Meier,2014),andimproveloanrepayment(Karlanetal.,2012).

Sincetherehasbeenevidenceofsuccessinusingtextmessagenudgestoencourageawide

rangeofdesirablebehaviours,itwasdecidedtotrialtheuseoftextmessagereminders

aftertheInChargeofMyMoneyprograminthisstudytoinvestigateifthosewhoreceived

textnudgeshadbetterfinancialoutcomesthanthosewhodidnot,severalmonthsafterthe

program.

Methodology

Participants

The128initialparticipantsintheprojectwererandomlyassignedtoeitherreceivetext

messageremindersinthefollowingfivemonthsortoreceivenotexts.Ofthe54

participantswhocompletedthesecondquestionnaireatTime2andwereincludedinthe

dataanalyses(i.e.excludingstaffdata),24participants(44%)receivedatleastonetext

message.Threeofthe54participants(6%)optedout(i.e.askednottoreceiveanymore

textmessages)duringthestudy,includingonewhooptedoutbeforethefirsttextmessage

wassent.

111

Procedure

Participantsweresentsevendifferenttextmessagesinthefivemonthsaftercompletionof

theInChargeofMyMoneyprogram.Onetextmessagewasaccidentallysenttwicetoone

groupofparticipants,hencethenumberoftextmessagesreceivedbyparticipantsranged

from0to8.Participantsweregiventheoptionofoptingoutatanytime.

AnonlineSMSsystemwaspurchasedforthestudysothatthetextmessagescouldbesent

outautomatically.Participants’namesandphonenumbers,andtextmessagewording,

wereenteredintotheSMSsystemandthetextmessageswerescheduledtobesentout

every3-4weeks.Theliteraturerecommendedsendingtextmessages3-4weeksafteran

intervention(Schwerdtfegeretal.,2012),anditwasthoughtthatsendingtextsevery3-4

weeksforfivemonthswouldbesufficientandnotconsideredintrusiveorirritating.

Text message delivery

Only65%ofthetextmessagesthatweresentoutwereactuallyreceivedbyparticipants.

Twentypercentofthemessages‘bounced’andanother15%were‘pending’andnever

delivered.Studyparticipantsreceived5.5textmessagesonaverage,and68%received6or

moretextmessagesoverthedurationofthestudy.Thelowmessagedeliveryratewas

partlyduetothefactthatapproximately50%ofparticipantswerelivinginresidential

addictionrehabilitationcentreswheretheuseofmobilephonesandtheinternetwas

strictlylimited.Furthermore,inmarginalisedpopulationssuchastheparticipantsinthis

study,mobilephonenumberstendtobeunreliable.

Text message wording

Muchdeliberationwasgiventothewordingofthetextmessagenudges.Accordingtothe

literature,effectivetextmessagesneedtobe:

• personalised,

• briefandfocused,

• easytounderstand,avoidingslangandabbreviations,

• conversationalintone,

112

• positivenotnegative,

• haveanintrinsiclocusofcontrol(e.g."Youareresponsibleforachievingyour

goals"),

• directive(e.g."Planaheadsoyoucanreachyourgoals"),

• statementsnotquestions(e.g."Committingtoyourgoalstodaywillhelpyouinthe

long-run",ratherthan,"Howwillcommittingtoyourgoalstodayhelpyouinthelong

run?"),

• polite,

• nonaggressive,

• supportingself-efficacy,and

• grammaticallycorrect(Gold,Lim,Hellardetal.2010;Latimer-Cheungetal.,2013;

Marketo,2015;Muench,vanStolk-Cooke,Morgenstern,Kuerbis,&Markle,2014;

Ranneyetal.,2014;Scharl,Dickinger,&Murphy,2005;Schwerdtfegeretal.,2012).

Additionally,thesenderofthemessagesshouldidentifythemselvesasitgivescredibilityto

themessagebecauseitisfromatrustworthysource(JudyGoldetal.,2010;Marketo,2015).

Belowisthewordingoftheseventextmessagesthatweresentout:

1. Hi(FirstName)rememberyouareinchargeofyourmoneyandreachingyourgoals.

Allthebest,WesleyMission(Opt-out-info).

2. Hi(FirstName)whenyoukeeptrackofwhereyourmoneyisgoing,youarein

control.Allthebest,WesleyMission(Opt-out-info).

3. Hi(FirstName)identifyyourgoalandputitonthefridgetoremindyou.Allthebest,

WesleyMission(Opt-out-info)

4. Hi(FirstName)trackyourspendingleakageandbeinchargeofyourmoneytoday!

Allthebest,WesleyMission(Opt-out-info)

5. Hi(FirstName)reduceyourdebtandstressbypayingbackalittlemoreeachmonth.

Itwillmakeadifference.Allthebest,WesleyMission(Opt-out-info)

6. Hi(FirstName)payyourselffirstandsave10%ofyourincome.Doittodayand

watchyourmoneygrow!Allthebest,WesleyMission(Opt-out-info)

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7. Hi(FirstName)youaremorelikelytoachieveyourgoalifyoutellafriend-sotella

friendtoday!Allthebest,WesleyMission(Opt-out-info)

Messagenumbers1,2and4remindedparticipantsthattheywereincontroloftheirmoney

andencouragedthemtomonitortheirexpenses(“..keeptrackofwhereyourmoneyis

going..”,“..trackyourspendingleakage..”).Messages1,3and7remindedparticipantsof

theirgoalsandprovidedtipstohelpachievethosegoals(“…putitonthefridgetoremind

you…”,“…tellafriendtoday!..”).Message5wasaboutmanagingdebt,andmessage6was

aremindertosave.Therefore,themaintopicsoftheprogramwerecoveredbythetexts,

withanemphasisonbeingincontrolofyourmoneyandachievinggoals.

Messagenumber4wasnotreceivedbysixparticipantsbuttwoparticipantsreceivedit

twice.

Measures

Theimpactofthetextmessagenudgeswasmeasuredinthreeways:

• Thenumberoftextmessageseachparticipantreceived(asanumericvariable

rangingfrom0to8)

• Adichotomousvariableofwhetherornoteachparticipantreceivedfourormore

textmessages

• Participantratingofhowusefulthetextmessageswere,forthosewhoreceivedtext

messages.

ItcanbeseeninFigure22thatalmosthalfthe25participants(12)whoreceivedtext

messagesreportedthatthemessageswereonlyalittlebituseful.Onlyfiveparticipants

(20%)saidthatthetextswereveryorextremelyuseful.

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Figure22:Ifyouwerereceivingregularremindertextmessages,howusefuldidyoufindthetextmessage?

Examining the effects of text messages on change in behaviours

Althoughtheparticipantratingoftheusefulnessofthetextmessageswasnotvery

promising,itwaspossiblethattherewereimplicit,unconsciouseffectsofthenudgeson

participants’behaviour.Toinvestigatethispossibility,two-waymixedANOVAswere

conducted,withtimeasonerepeatedmeasuresfactorandreceivingatleast4text

messagesversusreceivingnomessages(controlgroup)asabetween-groupsmeasure.

UsingANOVAsallowedforanexaminationofinteractioneffectsbetweentimeandtext

nudges.Thatis,wetestedwhetherthepatternofchangesfrombeforetheprogramtoafter

theprogramandthento5-7monthsaftertheprogram,wasdifferentforthosewho

receivedthetextmessagenudgescomparedtothosewhodidn’t.

AfurthermannerofinvestigatingtheinfluenceoftextnudgeswastoperformPearson’s

correlationstoseeifthenumberoftextmessagesreceived,orparticipants’ratingofthe

usefulnessofthetestmessages,weresignificantlyassociatedwithanyimprovementin

financialbehavioursoranyreductioninfinancialstrain.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Optedout

Notatalluseful

Alixleuseful

Veryuseful

Extremelyuseful


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Text Messaging Results Table13:Theeffectsoftextmessagesonchangeinbehaviour

Measure n Result

Moneybehaviour

48Therewasasignificantcurvilinear(quadraticcurve)interaction,F(1,46)=

4.80,p=.034,wherebythosewithanudgeshowedanimprovementinmoneybehaviourimmediatelyaftertheprogramandafurtherincrease5monthslater,whereasthosewithoutthenudgepeakedaftertheprogramandhadadeclineingoodmoneybehaviours5monthslater(seeFigure23).Theeffectsizeofthisinteractionwasmoderate(Partialetasquared=.094).

Savingbehaviour

54Therewasanalmostsignificantinteractionbetweentimeandnudge,F(1,52)

=3.28,p=.076,wherebythosewithanudgehadagreaterincreaseinsavingbehaviour5monthsaftertheprogramcomparedtothosewhodidnotreceivethenudge.Theeffectsizeofthisinteractionwasmoderate(Partialetasquared=.059)

Planningbehaviour

54Therewasnosignificantinteractionbetweentimeandnudge,F(1,52)=

.005,p=.942,meaningthatthetextmessagenudgehadnoimpactonplanningbehaviour.

Monitoringexpenses

54Therewasasignificantinteractionbetweentimeandnudge,F(1,52)=4.33,

p=.042,wherebythosewithanudgehadamoremarkedincreaseinmonitoringbehaviour5monthslater.Theeffectsizeofthisinteractionwasmoderate(Partialetasquared=.077).

Emotionalspending

49Therewasasignificantinteractionbetweentimeandnudge,F(2,94)=

3.962,p=.022,wherebythosewithanudgehadadecreaseinemotionalspendingbehaviour5monthsaftertheprogrambutthosewithoutanudgehadanincrease(seeFigure24).Theeffectsizeofthisinteractionwasmoderate(Partialetasquared=.078).

Numberofproblemsduetoshortageofmoney


.09,p=.768,showingthatthetextmessagenudgehadnoimpactonreducingthenumberofproblemsduetoashortageofmoney.



.58,p=.449,indicatingthatthetextmessagenudgehadnoimpactonreducingthedifficultyinpayingbills.

Howoftendoyouhavemoneyleftover


.05,p=.830,meaningthatthetextmessagenudgehadnoimpactonhavingmoneyleftoverbynextpayday.

Frequencyofaskingfamilyformoney


.14,p=.709,indicatingthatthetextmessagenudgehadnoimpactonreducingthefrequencyinaskingfamilyformoney.

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Figure23:Changestomoneybehavioursovertimebytextmessage'nudge'group

Figure24:Changestoemotionalspendingovertimebytextmessage'nudge'group

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What the statistics show

ThefoursignificantinteractionsshowninTable13aboveindicatethatthepatternofmoney

behavioursandattitudesacrosstimewasdifferentforthetwogroups–thosewhoreceived

atextmessage‘nudge’andthosewhodidn’t.Thosewhoreceivedthetextmessageswent

ontofurtherimprovementsinfinancialbehavioursat5-7months,whereasthosewhodid

notreceivethetextmessagestendedtohaveadecreaseindesiredfinancialbehaviours

acrossthesameperiod.Forexample,ascanbeseeninFigure23,thosewhoreceivedatext

messagenudgehadanimprovementinmoneybehavioursimmediatelyaftertheprogram,

andafurtherimprovementafter5-7months.ThiscanbeseenasalinearincreaseinFigure

23.Forthosewhodidn’treceivethetextmessagenudge,moneybehavioursimproved

immediatelyaftertheprogram,butafterthis‘peak’declinedagainafter5-7months.This

canbeseenasamorecurved,ᴧ-shaped(curvilinear)patterninFigure23.

Thesamepatterncanbeseeninreverseforemotionalspending.Thosewhoreceivedatext

messagenudgehadareductioninemotionalspendingimmediatelyaftertheprogram,and

afurtherreductionafter5-7months(seeFigure24).Forthosewhodidn’treceivethetext

messagenudge,emotionalspendingreducedimmediatelyaftertheprogram,butthen

increasedagainafter5-7months,returningtothesamelevelsasbeforetheprogram.

ItcanbeseenfromTable13thattextmessagenudgesalsohadasignificantandpositive

impactonsavingbehaviourandthemonitoringofexpenses.Thesizeoftheseeffects,

wherebythegroupswereshowntohavedifferentoutcomesovertimedependingon

whetherornottheyreceivedatextmessagenudge,was‘moderate’.Thissuggeststhatthe

impactoftextmessagesontheseoutcomeswasfairlyrobustandthatthe‘nudge’

interventionhasareasonablelikelihoodofhavingthesamepositiveimpactonthesame

behavioursifitweredoneagaininanewgroupofprogramparticipants.

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Planningbehaviour,thenumberofproblemsduetoashortageofmoney,thedegreeof

difficultypayingbills,howoftenparticipantshadmoneyleftover,andhowoftentheyasked

familyformoney,werenotimpactedbyreceivingtextmessagenudges.

Itwasnotpossibletotesttheinteractioneffectofnudgesonhowmuchtheprogram

helpedparticipantsachievetheirfinancialgoals,theextentofprogresstowardsfinancial

goals,orchangeindebt,becausetheseoutcomeswereonlymeasuredatonepointintime

andatleasttwotimepointsarerequiredforANOVAstatisticalanalyses.Instead,

independentsamplest-testswereusedtocomparetheaveragescoresofthosewhohad

receivedatleast3textmessagesweredifferenttothosewhohadnot(thatis,toseeif

thosewhoreceivedthenudgeshadmadebetterprogressafter5-7months).Theresults

indicatedthattherewasnostatisticallysignificantdifferencebetweenthetwogroups(and

thusnocomparativeimprovementforthenudgegroup)intermsofchangeindebt(t(36)=

1.15,p=.256),extentofprogresstowardsaspecificfinancialgoal(t(52)=-1.57,p=.122),

orhowmuchtheprogramhelpedparticipantsachievetheirfinancialgoals(t(52)=.89,p=

.380).

Thefactthattherewasasignificantimpactofnudgesafterseveralmonthsonparticipants’

money,saving,andmonitoringbehaviours,andontheiremotionalspending,couldpossibly

beexplainedbythewordingofthetextmessages.Threeofthemessagesreminded

participantsthattheywereincontroloftheirmoney,withtwooftheseremindingthemto

monitortheirspending.Thiscouldexplainwhytherewasanimpactoftextnudgesonboth

monitoringbehaviourandmoneybehaviour,since‘moneybehaviour’wasmeasuredbythe

extentofagreementregardingthinkingcarefullybeforebuyingsomething,comparingprices

togetthebestdeal,notbuyingthingsifonecannotaffordthem,andwaitingtobuy

somethingratherthanusingcredit.Threeofthetextmessagesremindedparticipantsof

theirgoals,withanadditionalmessageremindingparticipantstosave10%oftheirincome.

Sincethegoalsof50%ofstudyparticipantsweretosavemoneyorsaveforsomethingin

particular,itisnotsurprisingthatanalmostsignificanteffectoftextmessagesonsaving

behaviourwasfound.Inconsistentwiththisexplanation,however,wasfindingnosignificant

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differencebetweennudgerecipientsandnon-recipientsinhowmuchtheprogramhelped

participantsachievetheirgoalsandtheextentoftheirprogresstowardstheirspecificgoal,

consideringthreemessageswerereminderstoworktowardstheirgoals.

Therewasasignificantinteractionbetweenreceivingtextmessagenudgesandareduction

inemotionalspendingovertime.Emotionalspendingwasmeasuredbyparticipants’levelof

agreementwithwhetherornottheyspendmoneytofeelbetterwhentheyarefeeling

downorstressed,thereforeitisconceivablethatbeingremindedthattheyareincontrolof

theirmoney,andthattheyneedtomonitortheirspendingandsavefortheirgoals,helped

reduceimpulsiveemotionalspending.However,furtherresearchisneededtotestthese

tentativeexplanations.

Ifthereisinsufficientincomethennoamountoftextingornudgescanhelpreducefinancial

strainorreducedebt.Again,thepointtoberememberedisthatfinancialeducationneeds

tobeaccompaniedbyanadequateincomeforfinancialwell-beingtobeachieved.

Insummary,textmessagenudgesappearedtohaveapositiveimpactonparticipants’money,saving,andmonitoringbehaviours,andonemotionalspending,buttheydidnothaveaneffectonparticipants’

financialstrain,orhelpthemachievetheirgoalsorreducetheirdebt.Atentativeexplanationforthe

findingsisthatthewordingofthemessagesremindedparticipantstocontrolandmonitortheirspending,

andremindedthemoftheirgoaltosave.

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Pearson’s correlations

Pearson’scorrelationswereconductedtoinvestigateassociationsbetweenthenumberof

textmessagesreceived,participants’ratingsofhowusefulthetextmessageswere,anda

rangeofoutcomes:

• Improvedmoneybehaviour

• Improvedsavingbehaviour

• Improvedplanningbehaviour

• Improvedmonitoringbehaviour

• Lessemotionalspending

• Howmuchtheprogramhelpedachievegoals

• Extentofprogresstowardsaspecificgoal

• Fewerproblemsduetoashortageofmoney

• Lessdifficultypayingbills

• Moremoneyleftover

• Lessoftenaskingfamilyformoney

• Reduceddebt

Theonlysignificantrelationshipfoundwasbetweenthenumberoftextsreceivedand

emotionalspending,wherebyreceivinganincreasednumberoftextmessageswas

moderatelycorrelatedwithreducedemotionalspending(r=.45,p=.027).Asmentioned

above,itishypothesisedthatbeingremindedthattheywereincontroloftheirmoney,

needtomonitortheirspendingandaimfortheirgoals,amelioratesspendingforemotional

reasonstosomeextent.Thefactthatnootherfinancialbehaviours,orprogresstowards

financialgoals,orreductionindebt,wereassociatedwiththenumberoftextmessages

receivedsuggeststhattherewaslittledifferenceineffectivenessbetweenreceiving4texts

andreceiving8textsover5months.Findingnoassociationsbetweenparticipants’ratingof

theusefulnessofthetextmessagesandanyoutcomesafter5-7monthssuggeststhatthe

effectofthenudgesonbehaviourwasimplicitandoutsideparticipants’awareness.

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Summary of Results and Implications

TheprincipalaimofthisprojectwastoevaluatetheeffectivenessoftheInChangeofMy

Moneyprograminvulnerablepopulations.Theevaluationaimedtoidentifyparticipant

outcomesrelatedtofinancialbehaviourandknowledgeretentioninparticipants.

Thefindingsofthisstudywillbesummarisedaccordingtothefourkeygoalsoftheproject,whichwereto:

- ensuretheprogramcontentisrelevantandevidence-based;

- identifywhethertheprogramfacilitatessustainedimprovementinfinancial

behaviours;

- estimatechangestoparticipantfinancialknowledgeandunderstandingattheendof

theprogram,andestimateretentionafterseveralmonths;and,

- ascertainhowincorporatingapracticalstrategy,suchastextmessagereminders,



Accordingtofeedbackfromstudyparticipantsbothimmediatelyaftertheycompletedthe

programandseveralmonthslater,theInChargeofMyMoneyprogramdidprovide

informationthatwasrelevantanduseful.Thecontentappearedtobeparticularlyrelevant

forsomeofthemostsociallyandeconomicallydisadvantagedandvulnerablepeoplewithin

theAustralianpopulation.Immediatelyaftertheprogram,participantsreportedbeingvery

satisfiedwiththecontent,relevanceandpresentationoftheInChargeofMyMoney

program,ratingitveryhighly,onaverage,andhavingfewcomplaints.Whenaskedseveral

monthslateriftheywouldrecommendtheprogramtotheirfriends,themajority(85%)said

theywouldrecommenditbecauseitwaseasytounderstand,relevant,andhelpful.Only

fourpeoplesaidtheywouldnotrecommendittotheirfriends,mainlybecausetheythought

theirfriendsdidnotneedit.Findingthatmostparticipantswouldrecommendtheprogram

totheirfriendsseveralmonthsaftertheyhadcompletedtheprogramsuggeststhat

participants’highopinionoftheusefulnessandrelevanceoftheprogramimmediatelyafter

theprogramdidnotdeclineovertime.

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Inadditiontooverallrelevanceandusefulness,thisstudyinvestigatedwhichaspectsofthe

programweremostrelevantandbeneficialtoparticipants.Whenaskedwhatpartofthe

programwasmosthelpfulinachievingtheirfinancialgoalsseveralmonthsaftercompleting

theprogram,participantsmostfrequentlyreportedthatadviceonhowtochangespending

habitswasmosthelpful.Learninghowtobudgetwasalsoabeneficialcomponentofthe

program,aswasunderstandingthedifferenttypesofloans,beingawareofinterestrates,

andstrategiesforreducingdebt.Addressingfinancialgoalsandhowtosavemoneywas

reportedtobethemosthelpfulpartoftheprogrambyonlyafewparticipants.

Furthermore,whenaskedatthebeginningoftheprogramwhattheymosthopedthe

programwouldassistthemwith,themostfrequentanswerswerehelpinmanagingmoney

andbudgeting.Helpwithsavingmoneyandsettingmoneygoalsweremuchlesscommon

responses.Apossibleexplanationforthesefindingsisthatparticipantsinthisstudyfoundit

difficulttoactuallypaytheirdailybills,soworkingtowardsagoalandsavingmoneywasa

lowerprioritythanlearningwaystopayfortheirdailylivingexpensesandreducetheirdebt,

ashasbeenfoundinotherstudies(Brackertz,2014;Loibletal.,2016).Apossible

implicationofthesefindingsisthattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram,andotherfinancial

literacyprogramstargetingtheverymarginalisedinsociety,mayneedtofocuson

informationregardingbudgeting,moneymanagement,spendinghabitsandreducingdebt,

morethanongoalsettingandhowtosavemoney.However,forsome,thehabitofsaving

evenafewdollarswasanachievement.

Whenaskedhowtheprogramcouldbeimproved,onlysixparticipants(11%)saidthatit

couldbemorerelevant.Theonecommentgivenrelatingtorelevancewasthatmost

programattendeesdonotqualifyforacreditcard,thereforelesstimecouldbespent

discussingcreditcardusage.Thefinancialinclusionmeasureverifiedthatonlyeight

participants(15%)hadacreditcard.However,WesleyMission’s2010ThirdFinancialStress

Report(WesleyMission,2010)highlightedthatcreditcarddebtwastwotothreetimes

higheramonghouseholdsunderfinancialstresscomparedtothosenotunderfinancial

stress,suggestingthatthecreditcardmaterialmayonlybeoflimitedrelevancewhenthe

programisdeliveredtothemostextremelydisadvantagedinsociety,suchasthe

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participantsofthisstudy.Animplicationofthisfindingisthatthepresentationofthe

materialoncreditcardscouldbedependentonhowmanyparticipantsineachgroup

actuallyhaveacreditcard.Thispracticeisnowbeingimplemented.

Fromareviewoftheliterature,tentativebestpracticeforfinancialliteracyprograms

targetedatvulnerablepopulationsinvolvestailoringthecontentanddeliverystyletothe

particularaudience,havingtheprogramdeliveredbytrainerswhoareknowledgeableand

non-judgemental,providingtheprogramatanopportunetime,adheringtotheprinciplesof

adultlearning,andempoweringprogramattendees.TheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramis

consistentwithmostoftheseguidelinesforbestpractice.Thecontentoftheprogramwas

tailoredtotheneedsofWesleyMissionclients,whoareamongstthemostmarginalisedand

vulnerableinsociety.Addressingthetopicsofpaydayloans,reducingdebt,howtosavejust

adollarortwoaday,areexamplesofcontentthatisrelevanttothosewhosemainsource

ofincomeisgovernmentbenefits.Payingoffamortgage,increasingsuperannuation,and

investinginthestockmarketarenotincludedintheprogramsincemostattendeesdonot

owntheirownhome,arenotworking,anddonothavelargeamountsofmoneytoinvest.

Appropriatepracticalexamplesareusedduringthepresentation.Thereisanemphasison

teachinggoodmoneymanagementskillsandhabits,suchashowtocreateandmaintaina

budget,usingASIC’sMoneySmartbudgetingtool,howtouseamoneyboxtosavecoins,

andhowonlytakingtheamountofmoneyrequiredtobuywhatyouneedpreventsimpulse

spending.ThelanguageoftheprogrammaterialsissuitableforYear10levelofliteracy,not

higher,toensureitisunderstandablebythosewithrelativelylowlevelsofliteracy.

Furthermore,theprogramisdesignedtobedeliveredtopeoplewithreducedcognitive

capacity,suchasthosefromdrugandalcoholrehabilitationcentres.Informationisoften

presentedas“rulesofthumb”,suchas“payyourselffirst”,“everylittlebitcounts”,“ask

myself,doIreallyneedthis?”Thesesimpleandpracticalmessagesareeasyforprogram

attendeestoremember,andindeedtherewasevidencefromthequalitativedatathat

manyparticipantsdidrememberthem.

124

InthisstudytheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramwasdeliveredbywell-trained,very

financiallyliterate,non-judgementalandtrustedpersonnel,withaprofoundunderstanding

oftheneedsoftheiraudience,namely,WesleyMissionfinancialliteracyeducatorsand

somefinancialcounsellors.Feedbackfromstudyparticipantsreinforcethatparticipants

foundthepresenterstobeknowledgeable,abletoanswertheirquestions,helpfuland

empathic.Itisnotknowniftheprogramwouldbeanywherenearaseffectiveifitwas

deliveredbypersonnelwithlessfinancialknowledge,lessunderstandingoftheaudience,

andlessexperienceindealingwiththefinancialissuesofthemostmarginalisedinsociety.

Inthisstudytheprogramwasdeliveredthroughexistingservicestovulnerablepopulations.

Theliteraturehasrecommendedembeddingfinancialliteracyprogramswithinother

programs,providedthestaffwhodeliverthefinancialliteracyprogramhavetheknowledge

andunderstandingtobeabletodoso.Theseservicesweremostlyaddictionrehabilitation

orhomelessnessassistanceservices.Theliteraturehighlightstheimportanceofdelivering

theprogramat‘teachablemoments’inaperson’slife,anditcouldbearguedthattryingto

overcomeaddiction,movingonandseekingemploymentandhousing,aresuchmoments.

Furthermore,providingfinancialliteracyeducationaspartofotherserviceshasthebenefit

ofassistingclientsmoreholistically,ashasbeenrecommendedintheliterature.

TheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramwasdeliveredbyfinancialliteracyeducatorsandsome

financialcounsellorswhohavebeentrainedtoguideclientsandgivethemchoiceintheir

decisions,ratherthantellingclientswhatthey“should”do.Thisapproachisconsistentwith

theprinciplesofadultlearning,whichpositsthatadultswantguidancenotinstruction.In

addition,thecontentoftheprogramisrelevanttoattendees’lives,andthedeliverystyleis

participatory,withattendeesbeingencouragedtoaskquestionsandtalkabouttheir

situations.Completingtheprogramworksheetspromotesactive,learningbydoing,asis

recommendedbytheprinciplesofadultlearning.

Theoneprincipleofadultlearningthatthisprogramhasnotfollowedisthatofvoluntary

participation.Fortherehabilitationresidentialparticipantsofthisstudy,attendingthe

programwascompulsory.However,vulnerablepopulationshavebeenshowninthe

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literaturetobelesslikelytoseekoutandattendfinancialliteracyprograms,andhave

higherdropoutrates,comparedtolessvulnerablepopulations.Therefore,makingthe

programacompulsorypartofanotherprogramislikelytoincreasethenumberofpeople

onlow-incomeswhoreceiveappropriatefinancialeducation.However,importantly,this

studyfoundthatparticipantswhoattendedtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogrambecauseit

wascompulsorydidnotbenefitfromtheprogramlessthanotherparticipants.Thissuggests

thattheprogram,and/orthepresenters,wereabletoeffectivelyengagetheattentionof

participantsdespitetheirreasonforattending.Additionally,becauseapproximatelyhalfof

thestudyparticipantsdidnotvoluntarilyattendtheprogram,itreducedtheprobabilityof

selectionbias.Selectionbiascanoccurwhenonlythosealreadymotivatedandpredisposed

toimprovetheirfinancialliteracyenrolinaprogram.Selectionbiascaninflatethe

effectivenessofaprogrambecauseonlythemostmotivatedattend(Collins&Holden,

2014).

Finally,itisnotestablishedwhethertheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramengendersasense

ofempowermentandfinancialself-efficacyinattendees.Thisstudyfoundthat,when

lookingataveragesallparticipants,therewasnostatisticallysignificantincreaseinfinancial

self-efficacy,althoughincreasedfinancialself-efficacywasassociatedwithimproved

financialbehaviours.Thissuggeststhatsomeparticipantsexperiencedanincreasein

financialself-efficacy,andthattheseparticipantsbenefitedfromthisincreaseintermsof

positivefinancialbehaviours.Furtherresearchisneededtounderstandwhysomeprogram

attendeesdonotexperienceincreasedfinancialself-efficacyandhowtoimprovefinancial

self-efficacyforthisgroup.

Insummary,thisevaluationhasfoundbothquantitativeandqualitativeevidencethattheIn

ChargeofMyMoneyprogramcontentanddeliveryisrelevantandevidence-based,

conformingwithwhathasbeenidentifiedasbestpracticetodate.

126

Is there evidence that the program facilitates sustained

improvements in financial behaviours?

TherewasevidencethattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramfacilitatedsustained

improvementsinfinancialbehaviours.Statisticallysignificantimprovementwasfoundin

financialbehavioursfrombeforetheprogramtoseveralmonthsaftertheprogram,

measuringfinancialbehavioursinfourdifferentways.Therewassustainedimprovementin

moneybehaviours,savingbehaviour,planningbehaviourandmonitoringofexpensesover

severalmonths.Theeffectsizesoftheseimprovementswerelarge.Furthermore,47%of

participantswhohaddebtwhentheycommencedtheprogramreportedareductionindebt

5-7monthslater,suggestingthattheprogrammayhaveassistedparticipantstobetter

managetheirdebt.Additionally,overhalf(56%)ofstudyparticipantssaidthattheprogram

helpedthemachievetheirfinancialgoals‘alot’or‘verymuch’,andonly11%saiditdidnot

helpatall,indicatingthatmostparticipantsbelievedthattheprogramassistedthemin

practicalwaysseveralmonthsaftertheprogram.Finally,theseimprovementsinfinancial

behaviourswerenotrelatedtogender,age,nationality,educationlevelorincome,implying

thattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogrammayberelevanttoabroadrangeofpeoplewithin

vulnerablepopulations.

Is there evidence of knowledge and understanding retention

after several months?

Therewasstrongevidenceofknowledgeandunderstandingretentionseveralmonthsafter

theprogram.Averylargeandhighlysignificantimprovementwasfoundinbothgeneraland

personalfinancialknowledgefrombeforetheprogramtoimmediatelyaftertheprogram

andtoseveralmonthsaftertheprogram,demonstratingthatstudyparticipantsretained

mostoftheknowledgetheyhadlearntintheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramoverseveral

months.

127

Whenaskedtodescribewhattheyrememberedabouttheprogram5-7monthslater,

almosttwothirdsrememberedthattheprogramwasaboutbudgetingandmoney

managementgenerally.Alargenumberofparticipantsrememberedspecificcatchphrases,

suchas“payyourselffirst”andspecificsavingtips,suchasputtingadollarortwoina

moneyboxeachday.Justoveraquarterofparticipantsrecalledinformationaboutthe

differenttypesofloansandhowtomanagedebt,andapproximatelyonequarter

rememberedspecificadviceaboutbeingmindfulofspendinghabits,includingimpulse

buying,spending“leaks”,askingoneself“doIreallyneedthis?”,onlytakingthemoneythat

youneedtotheshops,andplanningwhatyouwillspendbeforegoingtotheshops.Onlysix

participantsrememberedlittleornothingfromtheprogram.Consideringthatover50%of

participantswerelivinginresidentialrehabilitationcentresatthetimeofcompletingthe

program,thishighlevelofknowledgeretentionfromtheprogramisquiteimpressive.

Indeed,theInChargeofMyMoneyprogramwasdesignedtobedeliveredwithflexibility,in

ordertotakeintoconsiderationthereducedattentionspanofclientswithmentalhealth,

disabilityandaddictionissues.

Thestudyalsoexploredtheconnectionbetweenimprovedknowledgeandchangein

financialbehavioursovertime.Itwasfoundthatgeneralandpersonalfinancialknowledge

togetherweremoderatelysignificantlycorrelatedwithimprovedmonitoringofexpenses

andhowmuchtheprogramhelpedparticipantsachievetheirfinancialgoals,andmarginally

relatedtoimprovedmoneybehaviourandhavingmoremoneyleftoverbythenextpayday.

Thesesignificantassociationsbetweenknowledgeandfinancialoutcomessuggest(butdo

notprove)thatincreasedknowledgemaytranslateintoimprovedfinancialbehavioursover

time,supportingthevalueoffinancialliteracyprograms.

Did text message nudges increase the chance of sustained

change in financial behaviours?

Textmessagenudgesdidappeartoincreasethechanceofsustainedchangeinfinancial

behavioursovertime.Inthisstudythetextmessagenudgeshadasignificantimpacton

128

participants’money,saving,andmonitoringbehaviours,andonemotionalspending.These

effectsappearedtobeunconscious,sincethemajorityofthosereceivingtextmessages

reportedthatthetextmessageswereonly‘alittlebit’helpful,supportingthehypothesis

thatnudgesoperatebytriggeringpeople’sautomatic,ratherthancognitive,system

(Marteauetal.,2011).Thenudges,however,didnothaveaneffectonparticipants’

progresstowardstheirgoals,orlevelofdebt,orreductioninfinancialstrain.Atentative

explanationforthemixedfindingsisthatthewordingofthemessagesreminded

participantstocontrolandmonitortheirspending,andremindedthemoftheirgoaltosave.

Furthermore,thefactthatnootherfinancialbehaviours,orprogresstowardsfinancial

goals,orreductionindebt,wereassociatedwiththenumberoftextmessagesreceived

suggeststhattherewaslittledifferenceineffectivenessbetweenreceiving4textsand

receiving8textsover5months.

Althoughtheseresultsarepromising,itisnotpossibletodrawstrongconclusionsand

implicationsfromthesefindings.Only24participantsreceivedatleastonetextmessage

andonly65%ofthetextmessagessentoutwereactuallyreceivedbystudyparticipants,

reflectingthepracticaldifficultiesexperiencedincommunicatingwiththisvulnerable

populationovertime.Thesefindingsneedtobereplicatedwithalargersampleinorderto

confirmtheeffectivenessoftextmessagenudges.Adetailedcostbenefitanalysisisalso

recommended,toascertainwhetherthedegreeofpositiveinfluenceofthetextmessage

nudgesisjustifiedbythecostoftheresourcesneededtocreateanddeliverthem.

Additional Findings: Improvements in Attitudes, Self-Efficacy,

Emotional Spending, and financial Strain

Althoughtherewaslittlestatisticalevidenceofsustainedchangeinfinancialattitudes,

financialself-efficacy,andemotionalspending,forparticipantsonaverageafterthe

program,thereweresignificantrelationshipsbetweenimprovementsintheseparticipant

factorsandthekeyoutcomes5-7monthslater.Inparticular,improvementinfinancialself-

efficacyandimprovedattitudestospendingwerethetwoparticipantfactorsmost

129

frequentlysignificantlyassociatedwithprogramoutcomes,evenaftercontrollingforother

closelyrelatedfactors.Thesefindingssuggestthatencouragingprogramattendeestoadopt

adifferentattitudetospendingmoney,andbuildingattendees’financialself-efficacyby

helpingthemfeelmoreconfidentintheirabilitytomanagetheirmoney,maybothbe

crucialcomponentsinthesuccessofthisandotherfinancialliteracyprograms.These

findingsareconsistentwiththestagesofchangeinfinancialliteracymodel(Robson,2012).

Inthismodel,someattitudinalchangeisrequiredinordertolearnnewknowledgeand

behaviour,andthenincreasedcompetenceandconfidencesupportsfurtherbehavioural

change(Robson,2012).

However,itisimportanttorememberthatevenifattitudesandfinancialself-efficacyare

significantlyassociatedwithimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours,itdoesnotshowthat

theycausedtheseimprovements.Itisequallyvalidtosaythatimprovedfinancial

behavioursmayhavecausedparticipantstofeelmoreself-efficaciousandtohavebetter

attitudestomoney.Thedirectionoftherelationshipbetweentheparticipantfactorsand

outcomesisunknown.Itisalsopossiblethatanotherunknownfactorcausedboth

participantfactorsandoutcomestoimprove.Hencecorrelationalresultssuggestpossible

causalassociationsbutcannotprovethem.Inpracticalterms,however,itmaymakelittle

differencewhichwaycausalitylies,anditseemslikelythatitisbidirectional.Forexample,

betterfinancialbehaviourscouldincreaseself-efficacy,andbetterfinancialself-efficacymay

supportimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours,creatinganupwardcycleofpositivefinancial

behaviours.

Inadditiontoimprovedfinancialattitudesandfinancialself-efficacy,higherratingsofthe

programwerealsolinkedtoimprovedfinancialbehavioursandtheperceptionthatthe

programhadhelpedthemachievetheirfinancialgoals,severalmonthslater.However,the

levelofmotivationduringtheprogramwassignificantlyandmoderatelyrelatedtoonlyone

outcome.Thesefindingssuggeststhathowinteresting,relevantandhelpfulprogram

attendeesfindtheprogramisfarmoreimportantthantheirmotivationlevelduringthe

program,intermsofsubsequentimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours.

130

Reducedemotionalspendingwasfoundtobemoderatelysignificantlyassociatedwith

improvedmoneybehaviour,howmuchtheprogramhelpedtheparticipantachievetheir

financialgoals,andfewerproblemsduetoashortageofmoney.Thesefindingssuggestthat

addressingemotionalspendingmaybeimportantinfinancialliteracyprograms.

Theresultsforimprovementsinparticipants’financialstrainweremixed.Therewas

evidencethatparticipants,onaverage,experiencedfewerproblemsduetoashortageof

money,hadreduceddebt,feltlessstressedaboutthefuture,weremorefinanciallyincluded

andhadhigherlevelsoffinancialresilience5-7monthsaftertheprogramcomparedto

beforetheprogram.However,althoughparticipants,onaverage,askedfamilyformoney

lessfrequently,founditlessdifficulttopayalltheirbills,andhadmoremoneyleftover

beforethefollowingpayday5-7monthsaftertheprogramthanbeforetheprogram,these

improvementsdidnotreachstatisticalsignificance.Therewasalsoanecdotalevidencethat

someparticipantswhohadbeenunemployedduringtheprogramwereworkingseveral

monthslater,andsomeparticipantswhohadbeenaddictedtosubstancesorgamblinghad

completedrehabilitationprogramsandwerecapableofbettermoneymanagement.

Therefore,thereweretoomanyadditionalinfluencesoutsidetherealmoftheprogramand

externaltoparticipants’ownfinancialbehavioursthatimpactedonparticipants’financial

circumstancestobeabletodrawanyconclusionsabouttheabilityoftheInChargeofMy

Moneyprogramtoreducefinancialstrain.

Additional Findings: Participant Factors That Were Not

Associated with Outcomes

Itisworthnotingthoseparticipantfactorsthatwerenotsignificantlyassociatedwith

improvementsinfinancialbehaviours.Nodemographicfactorswerestatistically

significantlyassociatedwithanyimprovementsinfinancialbehavioursorreductionin

financialstrain.Thisfindingsuggeststhattheimpactoftheprogramonimprovedfinancial

behaviourswasnotrelatedtogender,age,nationality,educationlevelorincome,and

thereforetheInChargeofMyMoneyprogrammayberelevanttoabroadrangeofpeople

131

withinvulnerablepopulations.However,therewaslittlevariationincountryofbirthor

socioeconomicstatusinthiscohort,whichcouldexplainthelackofassociations.Inaddition

todemographicfactors,thenumberofworkshopsattended(i.e.dosage)wasnotrelatedto

financialbehavioursorfinancialstrain,althoughthiscouldbeduetothelimitedvariationin

dosagesincethemajorityofparticipantsattendedallorthreeofthefourworkshops.

Surprisingly,whetherornotparticipantsattendedtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram

becauseitwasacompulsorypartofanotherprogramwasnotassociatedwith

improvementsinfinancialbehaviours,improvementsinknowledgeorreducedfinancial

strain.ThisimpliesthatthosepeoplewhodonotvoluntarilychoosetodotheInChargeof

MyMoneyprogram,maybenefitfromittoasimilarextentasthosewhochoosetoattend

theprogramvoluntarily.Thisisconsistentwiththefindingthatmotivationlevelduringthe

programwasonlyrelatedtooneoutcomevariable.Takentogetherthesefindingssuggest

thatincludingtheprogramasacomponentofotherprogramsandservicesmaybean

effectivewaytoimprovethefinancialliteracyandoutcomesofalargenumberof

marginalisedandvulnerablepeople.

132

Discussion

ThisprogramevaluationfoundevidencethattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogramis

relevantandevidence-based,doesfacilitatesustainedimprovementinfinancialbehaviours,

anddoesproducehighlevelsofknowledgeandunderstandingretentionafterseveral

months,forpeoplefacingthevulnerabilitiesofdrug,alcoholandgamblingaddiction,

homelessness,andfamilystrain.Thisstudyalsofoundthatincorporatingapractical

strategy,suchastextmessagenudges,mayincreasethechanceofsustainedchangein

financialbehavioursaftertheprogram.However,therearesomelimitationstothisstudy.

Limitations of the Study

Themainlimitationsofthestudyrelatetoitsnon-experimentaldesign,itsgeneralisability,

andtheinformationcollectedatTime2.Firstly,thisstudywasnotanexperimentasthere

wasnomatchedcontrolgroupforcomparison.Therefore,weareunabletoshowthatthe

programcausesimprovementsinfinancialbehavioursandreducedfinancialstrainbecause

itispossiblethatparticipants’financialbehavioursandfinancialcircumstanceswouldhave

improvedregardlessofwhetherornottheyattendedtheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram.

Onlystudieswithanexperimentaldesigncanclaimtodemonstratecausation.

Furthermore,thisprogramevaluationcannotbegeneralisedtoapplytothosefrom

culturallyandlinguisticallydiverse,orhighersocioeconomicpopulations,sincethe

participantsinthisstudywerequitehomogenousindemographicfactors.Therefore,this

evaluationcannotcommentontheeffectivenessoftheprogramforculturallyand

linguisticallydiversepopulations,orforthosefromhighersocioeconomicpopulations.An

additionallimitationofthisstudyisthatwedidnotcollectinformationaboutchangesin

participants’non-financialcircumstancesseveralmonthsaftertheycompletedtheprogram.

Thiswasalimitationbecausewewerenotabletoisolatetheeffectsoftheprogramfrom

theeffectsofchangedlifecircumstances,suchashavingrecoveredfromaddiction,now

havingstablehousing,ornowbeingemployed.Thehighrateofattritioninsamplesizefrom

Time1toTime2wasalsoalimitation,asitreducedthestatisticalpowerofthestudyto

detectsignificanteffects,particularlyfortheexperimentwiththetextmessagenudges.

133

Highratesofstudyparticipationattritionarecommonwhenconductingresearchwithlow-

incomepopulations,however(Collins,2010;Lyonsetal.,2006).Itishopedthatfuture

researchwilladdressthelimitationsinthisprogramevaluation.

Future research

Wewouldliketomakesuggestionsforfutureresearchforfinancialliteracyprogram

evaluationstargetingvulnerablepopulations.Firstly,futureresearchshouldincludea

matchedcontrolgroupwhoaresimilarineverywaytothestudyparticipantsexceptthat

theydonotattendthefinancialliteracyprogram.Theyshouldbegiventhesame

questionnairesatthesametimesasthosedoingtheprogramsothatchangesinfinancial

knowledge,behaviours,attitudes,andstraincanbecomparedbetweentheexperimental

andcontrolgroups.Thisistheonlywaytodemonstratethattheprogramcausesthe

changes.Secondly,thisprogramevaluationneedstobereplicatedwithparticipantswhoare

moredemographicallydiversetobeabletoshowthattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram

iseffectiveforculturallyandlinguisticallydiverse,andlesssocioeconomically

disadvantaged,Australians.Thirdly,futurefinancialliteracyprogramevaluationsshould

collectinformationaboutparticipantschangedlifecircumstanceswhentheyaresurveyed

monthsaftertheprogram,sothatthesechangescanbetakenintoaccountintheanalyses.

Itispossiblethatrecoveryfromaddictionorfindingstablehousingarethemainreasonsfor

theimprovementsinfinancialbehaviours,ratherthantheprogram.Inaddition,some

participantsbenefittedfromtheprogrammorethanothers,sofutureresearchshouldtryto

identifythosewhobenefittheleastfromtheprogram,whythisisthecase,andhowthe

programcouldbetterengagethoseparticipants.Finally,thoseconductingresearchwiththe

marginalisedofsocietyshouldbeawareofthedifficultiesincontactingparticipantsfor

longitudinalstudiesandtheneedforadditionalresources.

134

Conclusion

ThisprogramevaluationfoundevidencethatWesleyMission’sfinancialliteracyprogram,In

ChargeofMyMoney,isrelevantandbeneficialtoitstargetaudienceofthemostvulnerable

insociety.Forthosewithverylimitedincomesandresources,thesmalltipsonhowto

changespendinghabitsandsaveevenjustadollaraday,canmakeasignificantdifference

inpeople’slives.Forexample,oneparticipantsaidonthephonethathehadbeenplacing

hiscoinsinthemoneyboxhewasgivenattheInChargeofMyMoneyprogram.After

severalmonthsheopenedthemoneyboxandfoundthathehadover$100,andthatwas

enoughforhimtobeabletovisithisdaughter.Suchasmallchangeinfinancialbehaviour

hadmadeasignificantdifferenceinhislife.WesleyMissionandthecreatorsandpresenters

oftheprogramshouldbecommendedfortheirwork.

135

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139

Appendices

Appendix 1 TableA1:Pearson’scorrelationsbetweenparticipantfactorsandoutcomesatTime2

ParticipantFactorsImprovementsfrombeforeprogramto5-7monthsafter

programProgramengagementatTime1

OutcomesatTime2

GeneralFinancialknowl-edge

Personalfinancialknowl-edge

Attitudestospending

FinancialSelfEfficacy

Emotio-nalspending

Motivati-onduringprogram

Programrating

Improvedmoneybehaviour

r=.27p=.064n=48

ns

r=.42p=.003n=48

r=.30p=.046n=46

r=.28p=.048n=49

r=.43p=.002n=49

r=.36p=.010n=49

Improvedsavingbehaviour

ns

ns

r=.30p=.030n=51

ns

ns

ns

ns

Improvedplanningbehaviour

ns

ns

r=.26p=.060n=51

ns

ns

ns

r=.27p=.043n=54

Improvedmonitoringbehaviour

ns

r=.35p=.013n=51

r=.42p=.002n=51

r=.33p=.020n=48

ns

ns

r=.27p=.050n=54

Howmuchdidtheprogramhelpachievegoals

r=.33p=.019n=51

ns

r=.36p=.009n=51

r=.41p=.003n=48

r=.30p=.031n=51

ns

r=.400p=.003n=54

Extentofprogresstowardsspecificgoal

ns

ns

r=.31p=.029n=51

r=.45p=.001n=48

ns

ns

ns

Fewerproblemsdueshortageofmoney

ns

ns

ns

r=.36p=.012n=48

r=.29p=.038n=51

ns

ns

Lessdifficultypayingbills

ns

ns

ns

ns

ns

ns

ns

Moremoneyleftover

ns

r=.27p=.059n=51

ns

ns

ns

ns

ns

Lessoftenaskfamilyformoney

ns

ns

ns

ns

ns

ns

ns

Changeindebt ns

ns

r=-.32p=.051n=37

ns

ns

ns

ns

140

Appendix 2

TableA2:Pearson’scorrelationsbetweenparticipantfactors(ns=non-significant

ParticipantFactorsImprovementsfrombeforeprogramto5-7monthsafter

programProgramengagementatTime1



Attitudestospending


Emotionalspending

Motivationduringprogram

Programrating


-


r=.61p<.005n=50

-

Attitudestospending

r=.43p=.002n=50

r=.40p=.004n=50

-


ns

ns

r=.34p=.022n=46

-

Emotionalspending

ns

ns

ns

r=.47p=.001n=46

-

Motivationduringprogram

ns

ns

r=.28p=.044n=51

ns

ns

-

Programrating

r=.44p=.001n=51

ns

r=.29p=.042n=51

ns

ns

r=.66p<.005n=54

-

141

Appendix 3

TableA2:Backwardsstepwisemultipleregressionfinalmodels

Outcomemeasure F p R2 Variablesremaininginthefinalmodel

Improvedmoneybehaviour

(2,41)=12.33 <.005 .38 LessemotionalspendingProgramrating

Improved

savingbehaviour

(1,42)=3.57 .066

(onlymarginallysignificant)

.08 Improvedattitudetospending

Improvedplanningbehaviour

(1,42)=3.72 .061


.08 Improvedpersonalfinancialknowledge

Improvedmonitoringbehaviour

(2,41)=6.24 .004 .23 Improvedattitudetospending

Improvedfinancialself-efficacy

Howmuchdidtheprogramhelpachievegoals

(2,41)=11.86 <.005 .37 Improvedfinancialself-efficacy

Programrating

Extentofprogresstowardsspecificgoal

(1,42)=9.70 .003 .19 Improvedfinancialself-efficacy

Fewerproblemsduetoshortageofmoney

(1,42)=8.45 .006 .17 Improvedfinancialself-efficacy

Lessdifficultypayingbills Nomodelwassignificant

-

-

-

Moremoneyleftover Nomodelwassignificant

-

-

-

Lessoftenaskfamilyformoney

(3,39)=2.95 .044 .19 Improvedpersonalfinancialknowledge

Improvedattitudetospending

Improvedfinancialself-efficacy

Changeindebt F(1,30)=3.63 .067


.11 Improvedattitudetospending

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Appendix 4

FigureF1:TheinteractionbetweentimeandreceivingthreeormoretextmessagesonMoneyBehaviour

143

Appendix 5

FigureF2:TheinteractionbetweentimeandreceivingthreeormoretextmessagesonSavingBehaviour

144

Appendix 6

FigureF3:TheinteractionbetweentimeandreceivingthreeormoretextmessagesonMonitoringExpenses

EM

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Documents

Evaluating the Wesley Mission - financial capability · Evaluating the Wesley Mission In charge of my money financial literacy program for vulnerable populations. Sydney: Wesley Mission