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evaluation

Evaluating the Wesley Mission: In charge of my money

Evidence type: Evaluation i

Description of the programme

The Wesley Mission ‘In charge of my money’ programme has been delivered to over 4,000 people since its inception in August 2011. It aims to improve the financial literacy of vulnerable groups with problems including addiction, homelessness, unemployment, domestic violence, low income and health issues.

The programme provides practical information on managing money. It aims to provide participants with relevant skills to manage their money and make effective financial decisions and it encourages them to apply to what they learn to everyday life.

There are three modules in the programme:

  • Know it – Your income and expenses
  • Do it – Managing your money – covering goals saving and budgeting
  • Review it – Managing your debt – covering borrowing and debt

Qualified professionals, such as financial counsellors, deliver the programme. It can be delivered over one day but is most commonly delivered in three weekly sessions of three hours each. For the purpose of this evaluation, to allow time for questionnaire completion, programme delivery took place over four weekly instalments. Participants are encouraged to access financial counselling and support.

The study

Macquarie University conducted an independent evaluation of the programme, which was published in 2016. It collected both quantitative and qualitative data through a pre- and post- survey of participants: 128 participants completed the pre- questionnaire, and 63 of these completed the post- questionnaire. However, after some participants were excluded from analysis, the final sample size of the post- questionnaire was 54. Text messages affirming positive money behaviours were sent to half of the participants every 3-4 weeks to test if reminders/nudges had an impact on participants’ financial behaviours.

What are the outcomes?

Change in financial behaviours:

  • Change in money management behaviour
  • Change in level of saving behaviour
  • Change in degree of planning behaviour
  • Change in level of monitoring expenses

Change in reaching financial goals:

  • How much the programme assisted in achieving goals
  • The extent of progress towards the specific goal identified during the programme

Change in financial strain:

  • The number of problems due to lack of money
  • The degree of difficulty in paying bills
  • How much money is left over by the next payday
  • Frequency of asking family for money
  • Number of financial products i.e. financial inclusion
  • Change in level of debt

Key findings

  • Evidence suggests that the programme content and delivery is relevant for some of the most socially and economically disadvantaged and vulnerable people – it is rated highly by participants and, several months after participation 85% would be prepared to recommend the programme as easy to understand, relevant and helpful.
  • The programme is evidence-based. It conforms to identified best practice in terms of its relevant tailoring, delivery style, delivery by knowledgeable and non-judgemental trainers at an opportune time, and adherence to principles of adult learning.
  • Participants displayed substantial improvement in financial behaviours after several months. There were improvements in: savings behaviour, planning, monitoring of expenses and other money behaviours. These improvements were apparent 5-7 months after programme completion, demonstrating that participants retained most of their general and personal financial knowledge.
  • The study offers evidence that text ‘nudges’ had a significant and positive impact on participants’ financial behaviours. 20% of participants found the ‘nudges’ very useful, and almost half said they were only a little bit useful. The findings indicate that the text messages did have some sustained positive impacts on money behaviour, saving behaviour, monitoring expenses and emotional spending.
  • The study found the programme also led to improvements in participants’ attitudes, self-efficacy, emotional spending and financial strain.

Points to consider

Methodological limitations:

  • The research area and the environment studied raise challenges relating to sample sizes and reliability.
  • The subject matter is difficult for some and responses in some measures required incentives.
  • There is significant attrition of the sample when it comes to the follow-up questionnaire.
  • The research on the efficacy of text message nudging suffered even more from these deficiencies because of the unreliability of mobile phone access for some respondents.
  • There was no control group or comparison group against which to measure outcomes.
  • The study did not collect information on changes in participants’ non-financial circumstances over time; it is therefore not possible to isolate changes resulting from the programme from the effects of changes in personal circumstances.

Generalisability/transferability:

The study relates to vulnerable populations and findings would not be generalisable to the population as a whole.

Applicability:

The evaluation suggests that the programme itself and the approach are capable of wider application among vulnerable populations.

Full report

Evaluating the Wesley Mission: In charge of my money - full report

Key info

Activities and setting
Group sessions delivered once a week for four weeks.
Programme delivered by
Wesley Mission, Sydney, Australia
Year of publication
2016
Country/Countries
Australia
Contact information

Zanoni, L., Warburton, W., Russell, R., Warburton, M., & Flynn, L, Macquarie University