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Designing and implementing financial literacy programs Adele Atkinson, PhD Policy Analyst Financial Education and Consumer Protection Unit 10 th March 2011

Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

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Adele Atkinson, PhD, OECD Policy Analyst, Financial Education and Consumer Protection Unit, presentation from the workshop launching the Financial Education Financial Literacy Program in the Russian Federation, Moscow, April 4, 2011

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Page 1: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Designing and implementing financial literacy programs !

Adele Atkinson, PhD Policy Analyst Financial Education and Consumer Protection Unit

10th March 2011

Page 2: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

What role for financial education?!

•  When a consumer interacts with financial services, they need to be both protected and informed

•  Consumer protection and harmonised prudential frameworks are essential to promote trust in the markets and safeguard individuals

•  Financial education helps individuals make informed decisions

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Page 3: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

High level principles on financial education!

•  Government leadership ensures credibility •  Coordination at national level: ideally

through a national strategy •  Responsible involvement of private sector

& public private partnerships •  Bottom up and top down approaches •  Start early and in schools •  Ensure sufficient resources •  Evaluate

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Page 4: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Implementation!

A national strategy provides the best opportunity to apply these principles, ensuring:

•  National recognition of the issues •  An agreed vision of the solutions, intended

benefits and wider, economic implications •  Scale – reaching enough people to have a

national impact and doing so on a scale that reduces unit cost

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Page 5: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

First steps!

•  Identify the issues at national level • Data (surveys, consumer complaints,

financial difficulties)

•  Map existing resources and initiatives to avoid duplication:

• Who are the providers? • What materials and pedagogical tools do

they use? • Have they identified efficient practices? • Where are the gaps?

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Page 6: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Design appropriate programmes!Take financial education to the public: •  Make it easy to access, appealing, engaging •  Use trusted sources; publicise well •  Tap into teachable moments to reduce the time

between teaching and action •  Use environments that support learning •  Incorporate financial education widely •  Use simple and engaging messages and tools •  Provide participants with goals or a plan of

action to change behaviour

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Page 7: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

The importance of evaluation!

(Good) evaluation can tell you whether: •  Particular programmes have been effective •  The same programmes could continue to

be effective with new audiences •  Certain programmes meet a specific

objective more effectively or efficiently than others

•  Certain objectives are better met by other means

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Evaluation and Monitoring go hand-in-hand

Page 8: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Evaluation is not widespread!There are a number of hurdles: •  Willingness to scrutinise provision and

potentially identify ‘weaknesses’ •  The variations in design, delivery and

content of financial education provision •  The range of target audiences •  The skills and experience of potential

evaluators •  The money, time and other resources

needed to undertake evaluation 8

Page 9: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Evaluation and the OECD INFE!

The INFE has therefore developed: •  A summary of existing evaluation evidence •  A critique of current evaluation practice •  Guides for designing and implementing

robust financial education evaluations* •  General principles on evaluation – to be

developed into OECD recommendations •  A dedicated area on the secure website to

discuss evaluation issues 9

Page 10: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Detailed Guide!

•  What evaluation is •  How it fits with programme objectives •  The steps involved:

– Planning – Implementing – Reporting and using findings

•  Various additional considerations •  Where to find evaluation resources

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/3/49/47220488.pdf

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A 14 page guide with case studies, explaining:

Page 11: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Guide to Evaluation!

•  Plan the evaluation carefully •  Find a reliable evaluator who ….

i.  Matches methods to objectives; using existing tools where possible

ii.  Considers who should participate, ensures confidentiality

iii.  Analyses the results cautiously iv.  Reports the findings objectively

•  Use the results http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/3/47/47220527.pdf

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And a 5 page guide as a reminder to>

Page 12: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Some key take-home points!

•  Significant sums of money are spent on programmes that may be inefficient

•  A good evaluation will be cost-effective •  Think carefully about what you expect •  If resources are limited, prioritise: evaluate

one aspect of the programme robustly, don’t try to do too much at once

•  Seek objective outcome measures linked to the aims of the programme

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Page 13: Designing and implementing financial literacy programs

Thank you!!

Comments and questions are welcome

[email protected]

www.financial-education.org

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