Research and Analysis by Benjamin H. Harris
Raising Household Saving: Does Financial Education Work?
from Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 72 No. 2 (released May 2012)
Financial illiteracy is prevalent in the United States, and low levels of financial literacy are associated with poor financial choices and negative economic outcomes. We examine previous work on the effect of financial education on household saving and find mixed results. Workplace financial education seminars positively affect household saving, but the size of this effect varies widely across studies. The effects of other financial education initiatives are less clear, highlighting the need for rigorous econometric evaluation of efforts to improve financial literacy.
