The Impact of High School Financial Education: Experimental Evidence from Brazil

This paper studies the impact of a comprehensive financial education program spanning six states, 868 schools, and approximately 20,000 high school students in Brazil through a randomized control trial. The program increased student financial knowledge by a quarter of a standard deviation and led to a 1.4 percentage point increase in saving for purchases, better likelihood of financial planning, and greater participation in household financial decisions by students. "Trickle-up" impacts on parents were also significant, with improvements in parent financial knowledge, savings, and spending behavior. The study also finds evidence that the program affected students' inter-temporal preferences and attitudes.

Keywords: Tertiary Education, Financial Literacy, Education For All, Secondary Education, Primary Education

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Bruhn, Miriam and de Souza Leao, Luciana and Legovini, Arianna and Marchetti, Rogelio and Zia, Bilal, The Impact of High School Financial Education: Experimental Evidence from Brazil (December 1, 2013). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6723, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2367083