Financial Literacy Education in a Work Release Program for an Incarcerated Sample

We obtained 180 pre- and post-test surveys to investigate how an established financial literacy program may have increased financial knowledge of residents in a work release program in Augusta, Georgia. Paired t tests analyzed changes in subjective and objective financial knowledge, understanding of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFinancial counseling and planning Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 316 - 327
Main Authors Mielitz, Katherine (Kate) S., MacDonald, Maurice, Lurtz, Meghaan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, NY Springer Publishing Company 01.01.2018
Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education
Subjects
Adult Basic Education
Adult Students
Age
Banking
Behavioral Sciences
Consumer Education
Correctional Education
Counseling
Credit (Finance)
Education
Educational Background
Financial literacy
General Counseling
Households
Human Capital
Imprisonment
Institutionalized Persons
Knowledge
Knowledge Level
Literacy Education
Low income groups
Marriage and Family Counselling
Money Management
Population
Predatory lending
Predictor Variables
Prisoners
Racial Differences
Rehabilitation of criminals
Released Time
Scores
Skills
Teaching methods
Theory
United States > US
Georgia
incarcerated
human capital theory
work release
financial education
financial knowledge
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Summary:We obtained 180 pre- and post-test surveys to investigate how an established financial literacy program may have increased financial knowledge of residents in a work release program in Augusta, Georgia. Paired t tests analyzed changes in subjective and objective financial knowledge, understanding of banking and credit, and financial attitudes. OLS regressions of pre- and post-test financial knowledge were guided by human capital theory to learn which program participant characteristics were associated with greater increase in knowledge and infer why. Education, age, and use of financial tools were significant predictors in the pretest. Controlling for pretest knowledge, there were significant, positive differences from pre- to post-test, regardless of race. Implications for further research and specific suggestions for financial education content for the incarcerated are provided.
ISSN:1052-3073
1947-7910
DOI:10.1891/1052-3073.29.2.316