Financial well-being is a desirable state as it benefits individuals, families, organizations, and society, and these benefits reach beyond the financial domain. We assessed financial well-being as two components (current financial stress and expected future financial security) and used data from a representative sample of adults in the United Kingdom (n = 411). Our study provides novel insights based on preregistered hypotheses, method, and analysis plan on the Open Science Framework. We hypothesized that both executive functioning and financial self-efficacy are positively related to financial well-being via positive financial behaviors. We also hypothesized that executive functioning moderated the indirect relation of financial self-efficacy with financial well-being, and that financial self-efficacy moderated the indirect relation of executive functioning with financial well-being. As predicted, results showed that financial self-efficacy was strongly positively related to financial well-being via positive financial behaviors. Our results did not show that executive functioning was related to financial well-being via positive financial behaviors, nor that executive functioning or financial self-efficacy operated as moderators. This study provides possible strategies for financial practitioners and service providers, among others, to help individuals and families better their financial behaviors and their financial well-being.
Using longitudinal data before and during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic for a representative sample of Dutch households, we examined the role of financial stress, defined as the subjective experience of lacking financial resources to cope with demands, in mental health changes. Also, we examined financial stress and mental health relations with households’ income, savings, and debts. The data revealed that average mental health did not change during the first six months of the pandemic but showed considerable underlying heterogeneity. Results showed that financial stress changes significantly explained this heterogeneity. Increases in financial stress predicted decreases in mental health, whereas decreases in financial stress predicted increases in mental health. While income did not explain financial stress changes, fewer savings and more debts were related to increased financial stress, which was, in turn, negatively related to mental health. We discuss the implications of our findings for mental health care and financial security policy and provide suggestions for future research.
The present study used a Solomon four-group quasi-experimental design to examine the short-term effect of a large-scale national financial education program on children's knowledge and skills in responsible spending and performing transactions effectively. Our study included a representative sample of Dutch pupils in the fifth grade of primary school (N ¼ 2,650). Controlling for different children-specific characteristics, results showed that the program increased pupils' knowledge and skills scores in performing transactions effectively, but not in responsible spending. The insights gained from the present study show how financial education programs that enable children to immediately apply what they learn in practice can improve children's knowledge and skills regarding certain financial competencies.
Social welfare aims to support financially vulnerable households by protecting them from financial shocks and providing them with a basic standard of living. Many eligible households, however, do not take up social welfare. We present the results of in-depth interviews with 31 members of financially vulnerable households in two large Dutch cities about their experiences with welfare. We examined the role that money played in their lives, what inhibited them from taking up social welfare, and how they sought support. For many interviewed households, money was a source of stress. We found that the fear of reclaims and mistrust in government institutions were the main inhibitors for participating in welfare programs. Whereas the experience of shame and stigma were substantial inhibitors for claiming local welfare benefits, they were not for participating in national welfare programs. Both formal and informal help promoted welfare participation, but many participants lacked access to both forms of help. We discuss policies that could decrease the uncertainty associated with benefits receipt and give directions for future research.
Using longitudinal data before and during the first six months of the pandemic for a representative sample of Dutch households, we examined the role of financial stress in mental health trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, we examined possible relations of financial stress and mental health with households' income, financial buffers, and debts. The data revealed that average mental health did not change during the first six months of the pandemic but showed considerable underlying heterogeneity. Results showed that financial stress trajectories significantly explained the heterogeneity in mental health trajectories. While income did not explain financial stress, debts and insufficient buffers related to increased financial stress, which was in turn negatively related to mental health. We discuss the implications of our findings for mental health care and financial security policy and provide suggestions for future research.
Social welfare aims to support financially vulnerable households by protecting them from financial shocks and providing them with a basic standard of living. Many eligible households, however, do not take up social welfare. We present the results of in-depth interviews with 31 members of financially vulnerable households in two large Dutch cities about their experiences with welfare. We examined the role that money played in their lives, what inhibited them from taking up social welfare, and how they sought support. For many interviewed households, money was a source of stress. We found that the fear of reclaims and mistrust in government institutions were the main inhibitors for participating in welfare programs. Whereas the experience of shame and stigma were substantial inhibitors for claiming local welfare benefits, they were not for participating in national welfare programs. Both formal and informal help promoted welfare participation, but many participants lacked access to both forms of help. We discuss policies that could decrease the uncertainty associated with benefits receipt and give directions for future research.
A goal of financial therapy is to increase clients' financial satisfaction by helping them to perform positive financial behaviors. The present study argues that the success of such therapies can be further enhanced by considering the individual factors that underlie such behaviors. To identify the possibly most promising factors, data from the 2018 Money Advice Service (MAS) Financial Capability Survey (n = 2,133) were used and three sets of individual factors were examined: knowledge factors (financial knowledge and financial confidence), attitudinal factors (future orientation and attitude toward money), and sense of control factors (spending self-control and perceived behavioral control). Path analysis findings indicated that all factors were associated with financial satisfaction via one or more positive financial behaviors. All factors except for attitude toward money were also directly related to financial satisfaction. Financial confidence was the most promising individual factor to improve clients' financial satisfaction, followed by future orientation and perceived behavioral control.
We empirically test an integral model for healthcare and child support benefits take-up using a probability sample of the Dutch population ( N = 905). To examine how different psychological factors, in conjunction, explain take-up, we apply model averaging with Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICC). For both types of benefits, people’s perceptions of eligibility best explain take-up. For healthcare benefits, take-up also relates to perceptions of need. Exploratory analyses suggest that for healthcare benefits but not for child support benefits, executive functions, self-efficacy, fear of reclaims, financial stress, and welfare stigma explain perceived eligibility. We find no support for knowledge, support, and administrative burden as explanatory factors in take-up. We discuss the results in relation to the Capability Opportunity Motivation Behaviour (COM-B) model for developing behavioural change interventions.
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