Promoting financial capability within the field of social work practice among families with children: a systematic review

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart for the search and inclusion process.

Table 1. Overview of the included articles.

Author (year)	Castro Baker & Keene (2016)	Despard et al. (2012)	Huang et al. (2013)	Huang et al. (2016)
Area	Pennsylvania/New York (USA)	North Caroline (USA)	Oklahoma (USA)	Oklahoma (USA)
Research context and actors (incl. data and/or object of the study)	Qualitative research using in-depth interview data on homeowners at risk of financial default (N = 55), investigating experiences about partnering with a financial counselling agency and social work agencies that provided financial counselling and an array of social services programming.	Qualitative methods and descriptive statistics, using an internet survey of social workers and other human service professionals (N = 56), investigating social work methods and respond to client’s financial problems.	Based on a data (the SEED for Oklahoma Kids) from a state-wide randomised experiment, used a probability sample of infants (N = 2 651) to examine how participants’ financial knowledge and participation in a CDA intervention affects 529 college savings plan account holding among caregivers.	Quantitative research: baseline survey of the SEED OK experiment, using a sample of primary caregivers, e.g. mothers of infants (N = 2 529), and investigating the effects of financial capability on the risk of material hardship.
Methods or interventions	No intervention	Financial education (incl assessment, case management, financial counselling or coaching etc) as the primary means of intervening.	Child development account (CDA) intervention based on the idea of financial capability (e.g. access to appropriate financial services and ability to act).	Integration of financial access (CDA) and financial knowledge improving financial capability and reducing material hardship among mothers.
Mechanisms as psychosocial elements of support *How are the mechanisms addressed?	Providing emotional support is important for clients (trust, experiencing respect, to get needs heard, receive aid, empathy) even if housing and monetary troubles remain unsolved. *As an aspect based on the findings and results of the study.	*Not addressed	*Not addressed	*Not addressed
Results	The participants used several strategies to navigate mortgage strain and reported negative and positive social service encounters. Social work’s responses to financial concerns are connected to the categorical level of the objective as a social problem.	The participants characterised clients’ financial problems as the result of making poor financial decisions. Financial education is used mostly as a technique to respond. The participants faced workplace barriers to help their clients with financial problems (a lack of expertise, time etc).	Financial knowledge increased participant-owned account-holding rate in the treatment group but not in the control group. Financial education and training are not alone sufficient to expand financial capability. Equally important is a supportive institutional setting.	Financial access is particularly critical for improving financial management and reducing the risk of material hardship among mothers. Financial access was positively associated with financial management behaviours, partially reducing the mother’s risk of experiencing material hardship.

Author (year)	Huang et al. (2019)	Huang et al. (2022)	Murshid (2018)	Postmus et al. (2012)	Sanders (2016)
Area	Oklahoma (USA)	Oklahoma (USA)	Bangladesh	New Brunswick (USA)	Boise (USA)
Research context and actors (incl. data and/or object of the study)	Data from SEED OK (subsample, total N = 426), to explore the potential effects of integrating a CDA intervention with other social programmes.	Data from SEED OK (total N  = 825: treatment N = 410 and control group N = 415) to examine the effects of a CDA intervention on the use of mainstream financial products among young mothers.	Quantitative research: Nationally representative survey on women (N = 6,150) and on their ability to control resources in household decision making and involvement in making economic decisions.	A longitudinal, exploratory study examining the impact of a financial literacy programme on survivors of intimate and partner violence, IPV (N = 120).	Descriptive and quantitative study exploring financial capability initiative using the Treasure Valley Economic Action Programme (TVEAP) among women (N = 288) incarcerated for community re-entry.
Methods or interventions	CDA combined with social services for vulnerable families	CDA and access to financial products, knowledge and skills	Microfinance programmes including a range of financial instruments such as micro-loans	Financial literacy programme: Moving Ahead through Financial Management	TVEAP
Mechanisms as psychosocial elements of support *How are the mechanisms addressed?	*Not addressed	*Not addressed	*Not addressed	*Not addressed	The provision of classes that are empowerment and consciousness raising approach-based help clients to develop critical insight into personal choices. *As an aspect discussed based on the findings and results of the study.
Results	The CDA intervention had statistically significant impacts on financial and social development outcomes. Empirical support for a new model integrating accounts with other social services for economically vulnerable families.	Asset- and debt-product use was higher among young mothers in the treatment group than among those in the control group. The treatment–control difference partially results from the combination of young mothers’ access to the CDA policy, financial knowledge and financial skills.	Control over resources plays an important role in bargaining that increases odds of having decision-making power in the household.	Economic abusive behaviour drove IPV victims towards poverty. Experiencing economic abuse and economic control predicted a decrease in economic self-sufficiency. The intervention helped victims with the prevention of future abusive relationships and the identification of abuse in current relationships.	The participants benefited from the classes. TVEAP (curriculum) promoted women’s empowerment and financial autonomy, provided practical skills, increased knowledge and access to financial resources, increased women’s self-confidence in managing and coping with financial affairs and helped women find feasible repayment plans and long-term financial goals.
Author (year)	Silva-Martínez et al. (2015)	Tlapek et al. (2022)	Tuominen and Thompson (2015)	Warren et al. (2019)	West et al. (2017)
Area	Puerto Rico (USA)	Columbia (USA)	Ohio (USA)	Western Australia	Tennessee/Kansas (USA)
Research context and actors (incl. data and/or object of the study)	Qualitative study on advocates’ experiences (N = 19) in providing a financial literacy programme to victims of domestic violence	Pilot study on the implementation of financial capability and asset building (FCAB) programming for survivors in domestic and sexual violence agency	Ethnographic methods (observation, document analysis and in-depth interviews) to explore experience of participants, low-income families (N = 18), in financial literacy programme	Mixed methods in a study piloting domestic violence financial literacy curriculum, using pre–post measures and focus groups. Data: refuge staff (N = 6) and participant women (N = 11)	Mixed methods research: survey, in-depth and follow-up interviews for parents of kindergarteners to explore the role family composition plays in the way that households accumulate liquid assets
Methods or interventions	Financial literacy programme: Moving Ahead Through Financial Management	FCAB programme	Smart Money Financial Training	DFV-informed financial literacy curriculum	No intervention
Mechanisms as psychosocial elements of support *How are the mechanisms addressed?	Compensation is one way to motivate advocates to learn new interventions and how they can use these with victims of IPV. *As an aspect based on the findings of the study.	The effective implementation of an FCAB intervention depends on its timing, sequencing and delivery. The staff’s limited financial literacy and self-efficacy could be a barrier to delivering the programme. *As an aspect based on the findings and results of the study.	The narratives and experiences of low-income participants ought to get heard. *As an aspect reflecting the experiences of families participating in a financial literacy programme.	Building financial confidence is important. Discussion of own experiences, knowledge and strategies increased financial confidence and helped participants with health symptoms and worries. *As an aspect or component of a curriculum.	*Not addressed
Results	Advocates expressed complexities in providing financial literacy to survivors. The findings indicate that the curriculum needs to be implemented in a way that suits the clients’ particular situations.	Pre-existing knowledge of financial literacy influences staff actions. There were also substantial barriers to FCAB programmes (inappropriate timing, programming not meeting clients’ actual financial needs etc).	Positive changes by implementing budgets and saving small amounts. Still, it is limited to longer-term economic self-sufficiency and economic stability. Tensions between the ideology of individualism and personal abilities.	The programmes gave effective outcomes. Staff who participated in the programme reported having a stronger awareness of economic abuse patterns after the programme.	Lower-income single mothers reported little savings and aspirations towards very short-term savings horizons, did not identify institutional saving mechanisms. The composition of a family impacts reasons, obstacles and strategies for saving.

Despard, M. R., Chowa, G. A. N., & Hart, L. J. (2012). Personal financial problems: Opportunities for social work interventions? Journal of Social Service Research, 38(3), 342–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2011.638733

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Huang, J., Nam, Y., & Sherraden, M. S. (2013). Financial knowledge and child development account policy: A test of financial capability. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 47(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12000

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Huang, J., Nam, Y., & Sherraden, M. (2016). Improved financial capability can reduce material hardship among mothers. Social Work, 61(4), 313–320. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/sww052

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Huang, J., Beverly, S. G., Kim, Y., Clancy, M. M., & Sherraden, M. (2019). Exploring a model for integrating child development accounts with social services for vulnerable families. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 53(3), 770–795. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12239

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Huang, J., Sherraden, M. S., Sherraden, M., & Johnson, L. (2022). Experimental effects of child development accounts on financial capability of young mothers. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 43(1), 36–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-021-09774-4

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Murshid, N. S. (2018). Microfinance participation and women’s decision-making power in the household in Bangladesh. Journal of Social Service Research, 44(3), 308–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2018.1472170

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Postmus, J. L., Plummer, S.-B., McMahon, S., Murshid, N. S., & Kim, M. S. (2012). Understanding economic abuse in the lives of survivors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(3), 411–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260511421669

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Sanders, C. K. (2016). Promoting financial capability of incarcerated women for community reentry: A call to social workers. Journal of Community Practice, 24(4), 389–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2016.1233161

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Silva-Martínez, E., Stylianou, A. M., Hoge, G. L., Plummer, S., McMahon, S., & Postmus, J. L. (2015). Implementing a financial management curriculum with survivors of IPV: Exploring advocates’ experiences. Affilia, 31(1), 112–128. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109915608218

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Tlapek, S. M., Knott, L. H., & Voth Schrag, R. (2022). A process to identify and address barriers to providing financial capability programming to survivors of intimate partner violence. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 103(1), 65–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894211031484

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Tuominen, M. C., & Thompson, E. L. (2015). There was no money left to save’: Financial literacy and the lives of low-income people. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 26(2), 148–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2015.1018104

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Warren, A., Marchant, T., Schulze, D., & Chung, D. (2019). From economic abuse to economic empowerment: Piloting a financial literacy curriculum with women who have experienced domestic and family violence. Affilia, 34(4), 498–517. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109919868828

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West, S., Banerjee, M., Phipps, B., & Friedline, T. (2017). Coming up short: Family composition, income, and household savings. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 8(3), 355–377. https://doi.org/10.1086/693047

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