Financial Education and Counseling — Still Holding Promise

Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(3), 483-498.

16 Pages Posted: 30 Dec 2009 Last revised: 5 Feb 2014

See all articles by J. Michael Collins

J. Michael Collins

Follette School of Public Affairs

Collin O'Rourke

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Date Written: 2010

Abstract

This article reviews the evaluation literature on financial education and counseling for adults in order to synthesize implications for research and practice. Most evaluations report positive impacts, but the findings are often small when compared with valid comparison groups. Many evaluations use self-reported measures, measure outcomes over short time periods and cannot rule out selection bias due to nonrandomized designs, all of which may bias results. Although future research and practice in this field hold promise, more attention to theory-based evaluations and further investment in randomized field experiments may be fruitful.

Keywords: financial education, homeownership counseling, credit counseling, bankruptcy education and counseling

JEL Classification: A20, A29, D10, D14

Suggested Citation

Collins, J. Michael and O'Rourke, Collin, Financial Education and Counseling — Still Holding Promise (2010). Journal of Consumer Affairs, 44(3), 483-498., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1529422 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1529422

J. Michael Collins (Contact Author)

Follette School of Public Affairs ( email )

1180 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1393
United States

Collin O'Rourke

University of Wisconsin - Madison ( email )

716 Langdon Street
Madison, WI 53706-1481
United States

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