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A literature review on the effectiveness of financial education

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  • Matthew Martin

Abstract

This survey summarizes current research on financial literacy efforts. Because most financial literacy programs are relatively new, much of the literature reviewed here is also new and part of a field that is still developing as a program of research. However, we can conclude that financial education is necessary and that many existing approaches are effective. Among the findings are that some households make mistakes with personal finance decisions; mistakes are more common for low income and less educated households; there is a causal connection between increases in financial knowledge and financial behavior; and the benefits of financial education appear to span a number of areas including retirement planning, savings, homeownership, and credit use.

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  • Matthew Martin, 2007. "A literature review on the effectiveness of financial education," Working Paper 07-03, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedrwp:07-03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bernheim, B. Douglas & Garrett, Daniel M. & Maki, Dean M., 2001. "Education and saving:: The long-term effects of high school financial curriculum mandates," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 435-465, June.
    2. B. Douglas Bernheim & Daniel M. Garrett, 1996. "The Determinants and Consequences of Financial Education in the Workplace: Evidence from a Survey of Households," NBER Working Papers 5667, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. John Y. Campbell, 2006. "Household Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1553-1604, August.
    4. Patrick J. Bayer & B. Douglas Bernheim & John Karl Scholz, 2009. "The Effects Of Financial Education In The Workplace: Evidence From A Survey Of Employers," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(4), pages 605-624, October.
    5. Margaret Clancy & Michal Grinstein-Weiss & Mark Schreiner, 2001. "Financial Education and Savings Outcomes in Individual Development Accounts," HEW 0108001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 27 Dec 2001.
    6. Bernheim, B. Douglas & Garrett, Daniel M., 2003. "The effects of financial education in the workplace: evidence from a survey of households," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1487-1519, August.
    7. Hartarska, Valentina & Gonzalez-Vega, Claudio, 2006. "Evidence on the effect of credit counseling on mortgage loan default by low-income households," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 63-79, March.
    8. Valentina Hartarska & Claudio Gonzalez-Vega, 2005. "Credit Counseling and Mortgage Termination by Low-Income Households," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 227-243, April.
    9. James M. Poterba & Steven F. Venti & David A. Wise, 1996. "How Retirement Saving Programs Increase Saving," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 91-112, Fall.
    10. Sandra Braunstein & Carolyn Welch, 2002. "Financial literacy: an overview of practice, research, and policy," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 88(Nov), pages 445-457, November.
    11. Douglas D. Bernheim, "undated". "Financial Illiteracy, Education, and Retirement Saving," Pension Research Council Working Papers 96-7, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
    12. Marsha J. Courchane, 2005. "Consumer literacy and creditworthiness," Proceedings 950, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
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    Cited by:

    1. Margaret Miller & Julia Reichelstein & Christian Salas & Bilal Zia, 2015. "Can You Help Someone Become Financially Capable? A Meta-Analysis of the Literature," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 220-246.
    2. Silverman, Dan & Slemrod, Joel & Uler, Neslihan, 2014. "Distinguishing the role of authority “in” and authority “to”," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 32-42.
    3. French, Declan & McKillop, Donal, 2016. "Financial literacy and over-indebtedness in low-income households," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-11.
    4. Ian Hathaway & Sameer Khatiwada, 2008. "Do financial education programs work?," Working Papers (Old Series) 0803, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    5. H. Kent Baker & Sweta Tomar & Satish Kumar & Deepak Verma, 2021. "Are Indian professional women financially literate and prepared for retirement?," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 1416-1441, December.
    6. Srishti Chauhan & Kavita Indapurkar, 2017. "Understanding Retirement Confidence: With Special Reference to India," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 7(12), pages 1029-1041, December.
    7. Sun, Hongyan & Yuen, Desmond C.Y. & Zhang, Jiahang & Zhang, Xu, 2020. "Is knowledge powerful? Evidence from financial education and earnings quality," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    8. E. Bocchialini & B. Ronchini, 2015. "I divari di genere nella financial literacy: un'indagine empirica," Economics Department Working Papers 2015-EF01, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    9. CIUMARA, Tudor, 2022. "Financial Education And Digitalization. The Case Of Romania," Studii Financiare (Financial Studies), Centre of Financial and Monetary Research "Victor Slavescu", vol. 26(4), pages 65-76, December.

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    Keywords

    Financial literacy; Education - Economic aspects;

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