Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Berry, J., Karlan, D., & Pradhan, M. (2015). The impact of financial education for youth in Ghana (Working Paper No. w21068). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:10.3386/w21068
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of two different financial literacy programs, Aflatoun and Honest Money Box, on child labor and school attendance of children in grades 5 and 7 in southern Ghana. This summary focuses on the comparison between the Aflatoun program group and the control group.
- The study was a randomized controlled trial conducted in three districts in southern Ghana. Schools in each district were randomly assigned into one of two treatment groups and a control group. Survey data were collected at baseline and at the end of the school year. Data were analyzed using regression.
- The study did not find any statistically significant effects on child labor or school attendance for children participating in the Aflatoun program compared to the control group.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial with low attrition. This means we would be confident that any estimated effects would be attributable to the Aflatoun program and not to other factors. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.
Intervention Examined
Aflatoun Program
Features of the Intervention
Aflatoun is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that developed a school-based curriculum for financial literacy. They provide training and technical assistance to local partners to administer the curriculum, which has been adapted and implemented in over 100 countries. The program covers topics such as the importance of money, saving and spending, planning and budgeting, and entrepreneurship. While financial literacy programs aimed at children are common, the authors note that encouraging children to think about money and financial literacy can lead them to prioritize work activities at the expense of school. Thus, the Aflatoun program includes components on 1) character and motto, 2) personal understanding and exploration, and 3) rights and responsibilities. These rights and responsibilities include the rights described in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which entitles children protection from exploitation, including work that is harmful or takes them away from their education. The Aflatoun program requires about 24 hours to administer the curriculum.
The Aflatoun program was school-based and, for this study, included children in primary (grades 1-6) and junior high (grades 7 and 8) schools. Schools received a metal padlocked savings box used to collect and store children’s money. Either a teacher or student club officer recorded activities in a ledger and in the student’s passbook. After the curriculum was taught, the club continued to operate as a savings club where children could deposit or withdraw their savings. The Aflatoun program contracted with the Netherlands Development organization, who subcontracted with the Women and Development Project, the Ask Mama Development Organization, Berea Social Foundation, and Support for Community Mobilization. These organizations coordinated with the Ghana Education service, a government agency.
Features of the Study
Eligible schools were those that served the same students in the morning and afternoon, so that an after-school program could effectively be implemented. From a list of 165 eligible schools, 135 were randomly selected for the evaluation. The chosen schools were in three southern Ghana districts: Nkwanta (n=36), Greater Accra East (n=30), and Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Area (n=69). Of the 135 schools, 45 were randomly assigned to receive Aflatoun, 45 to receive the Honest Money Box program, and 45 were assigned to the control group.
Across the whole study, researchers wanted to survey 40 children in each school, targeting students in grades 5 and 7 because they would have greater access to money than younger children and, importantly, would be in the same school the following year. However, if the school did not contain enough children in a grade, the researchers selected children from adjacent grades. This produced a sample that was 45 percent grade 5, 46 percent grade 7, and 9 percent from adjacent grades.
The study authors created a work index comprised of 11 variables (worked in past 4 months to earn money, days worked in past 30 days, amount of money earned working in past 30 days, amount of money earned working in past 30 days standardized, worked in February, worked in March, worked in April, worked in May, worked inside the household, worked outside the household, and worked “a lot” during school term). Another index, Academic Performance, contained two variables (self-reported days of school attended last week and a standardized aptitude test score).
Baseline survey data were collected in September 2010. The intervention began in October and lasted through the end of the school year in July 2011, when follow-up survey data were collected. The authors used ordinary least squares regression to evaluate the program’s effect on labor and school attendance for children. A total of 5,291 cases were analyzed.
Findings
Employment/Child Labor
- There was no significant impact of the Aflouton program on the 11-variable work index, even when each variable comprising the index was individually analyzed.
Education (School participation/enrollment)
- Self-reported school attendance in the past 7 days was not significantly affected by participation in the Aflouton program.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The study did not assess whether the child participated in the savings club or not, so the results presented are "intent-to-treat" effects. The study authors note that the program’s theory of change assumes spillover in that “untreated individuals influence the attitudes and thus behaviors of their fellow students.”
The study authors intended to survey 40 students from each school, for a total of 5,400 students. While this number was achieved in 118 schools, due to surveyor error or logistical constraints, between 22 and 39 students were surveyed in ten schools, and between 41 and 47 students were surveyed in six schools.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is high because it was based on a well-implemented randomized controlled trial with low attrition. This means we would be confident that any estimated effects would be attributable to the Aflatoun program and not to other factors. However, the study did not find statistically significant effects.