Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study's objective was to examine the impact of Money Matters on financial knowledge and behaviors.
- The study used an interrupted time series design. Using survey data and statistical models, the author compared the outcomes of participants before and after they participated in the program.
- The study found a significant relationship between participating in the Money Matters program and an increase in financial knowledge and behaviors.
- This study receives a low evidence rating. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to Money Matters; other factors are likely to have contributed.
Intervention Examined
Money Matters
Features of the Intervention
Money Matters was a financial literacy and asset building program offered by CommUniverCity San Jose. The program aimed to help families increase savings, reduce debt, and build credit. To achieve this goal, the program promoted financial knowledge gain, identification of saving areas, and positive changes in financial attitudes and behaviors. The Money Matters program served minority low-income families within the community and was administered by undergraduate business students with the help of banking and finance specialists to create a more cost-effective implementation.
Participants attended face-to-face workshops over the span of two months. The workshops created an open and encouraging environment which allowed participants to seek professional advice from on-site specialists. The curriculum included identification of financial priorities, debt management, credit repair, alternative banking solutions, and payday loans. In order to retain participants and reduce their need to find childcare, financial workshops for school aged children were offered concurrently to the workshops.
Features of the Study
The study was conducted in San Jose, California. The author used an interrupted time series to examine outcomes associated with completion of the Money Matters program. The study sample included two cohorts. Cohort 1 completed the program in 2014 and cohort 2 completed the program in 2015. The majority of the study sample were women (75%), Hispanic (83%), and between the ages of 26 and 45 (72%). Less than half of the participants (47%) did not have a high school diploma or equivalent. Most of the participants (71%) had some form of a bank account with less than $1,000 in savings.
The study used surveys to measure participants’ financial knowledge, behavioral tendencies, and financial outcomes. The author collected survey data prior to the start of the program, immediately following the end of the program and two months later. A total of 75 participants completed the baseline survey (30 from cohort 1 and 45 from cohort 2). However, only 58 participants completed the pre- and post-surveys (23 from cohort 1 and 35 from cohort 2). The author used statistical models to compare outcomes before and after the intervention.
Findings
Knowledge and Skills For Money Management
- The study found that program participation was significantly related to an ability to save.
- The study found a significant relationship between the Money Matters program and an increase in knowledge of budgeting, debt management, and banking.
- The study also found a significant relationship between the program and increased behavioral tendencies of regular credit review, the use of financial goal setting, and debt reduction. No other significant relationships with behavioral tendencies were found.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The author compared the outcomes of participants measured before and after they participated in the program. For these types of designs, authors must observe outcomes for multiple periods before the intervention to rule out the possibility that participants had increasing or decreasing trends in the outcomes examined before enrollment in the program. That is, if participants who had increasing financial knowledge tended to enroll in the program, we would anticipate further increases over time, even if they did not participate in the program. Without knowing the trends before program enrollment, we cannot rule this out. Therefore, the study receives a low causal evidence rating.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the author did not account for trends in outcomes before the intervention. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to Money Matters; other factors are likely to have contributed.