Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study's objective was to examine the impact of the Moving Ahead Through Money Management intervention on financial knowledge and behaviors.
- The study was a randomized controlled trial that participants to a treatment group where they received a financial literacy intervention or a control group. Using survey data, the authors conducted a statistical model to compare the outcomes of the treatment and control groups at two months post intervention.
- The study found that treatment group participants had significantly higher financial knowledge scores and reported more financial behaviors than control group participants.
- This study received a moderate evidence rating. This means we are somewhat confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the Moving Ahead Through Money Management intervention, but other factors might also have contributed.
Intervention Examined
Moving Ahead Through Money Management
Features of the Intervention
The Moving Ahead Through Money Management intervention was targeted specifically for women over 18 years old who faced intimate partner violence within the last year. The intervention was a financial literacy curriculum delivered across four to eight group workshops which lasted approximately one to two hours each session. Workshop sessions covered learning objectives including basic vocabulary related to money and finances, basic financial processes (loan applications, bankruptcy, and credit scores), and the intersection of finances and leaving an abusive relationship. Additionally, participants had at least one individual coaching session which lasted varying lengths of time, with an average between 30 and 60 minutes.
Features of the Study
The study was a randomized controlled trial. A total of 457 women were initially recruited at 14 domestic violence agencies in seven states and Puerto Rico. Eligible participants were females over 18 years old that had experienced intimate partner violence in the year prior to recruitment. Participants were ineligible if they had attended a financial literacy course within the two years prior to recruitment. Participants were required to commit to full participation in the study at the time of recruitment to be enrolled. This included committing to attending the financial literacy workshops if selected to the treatment group. After completing a baseline interview, the women were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups. The treatment group received the financial literacy intervention, and the control group did not receive the intervention.
Data were collected via self-report surveys/interviews at multiple timepoints (before the intervention, at two months post intervention, 8 months post intervention, and 14 months post intervention). The study reports on individual data for 300 women (141 in the treatment group and 159 in the control group) who completed the interview at baseline and two months post intervention. The average age of the study sample was 36 and over half of participants were Hispanic/Latina (56%). Over half of the participants were unemployed (53%), a small proportion were currently enrolled in school at least part time (15%), and almost one-fifth (19%) identified themselves as being in an abusive relationship. The authors used statistical models to compare the short-term outcomes of the treatment and control groups.
Findings
Knowledge and skills for financial decision making
- The study found that treatment group participants had significantly higher knowledge scores than control group participants in knowledge about credit, obtaining resources, investing and long-term planning, and partner or joint assets.
Knowledge and skills for money management
- The study found that treatment group participants had reported significantly more financial behaviors over the past month than control group participants including making a personal financial plan, following financial plans, and allocating extra funds.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
Although this study was a randomized controlled trial, it suffered from high attrition. Therefore, the study was reviewed under regression guidelines and not eligible for a high evidence rating. However, the authors ensured that the groups were comparable at baseline.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is moderate because it was a randomized controlled trial with high attrition, but the authors ensured that the groups being compared were similar before the intervention. This means we are somewhat confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the Moving Ahead Through Money Management program, but other factors might also have contributed.