A Behaviorally Informed Financial Education Program for the Financially Vulnerable: Design and Effectiveness

In collaboration with five Dutch field partners, we conducted a quasi-experimental field study among financially vulnerable individuals (mostly: clients of municipal debt services). In this study, we tested the effectiveness of a Behaviorally informed financial education program in comparison with both a control group and a traditional program group.

We collected data both before the program started and six months later. In comparison with the control group, we found a strong positive effect of the behaviorally informed program on financial skills and knowledge and on financial behavior, but not on financial wellbeing and financial outcomes. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find evidence that the behaviorally informed program performed better than a traditional program.