Effect of Financial Education and Coaching on Economic Stability in Low Income, Single Mother Families

Abstract Up to 85% of health is governed by social determinants such as economic stability. By supporting healthy financial behavior changes to increase economic stability, the Financial Success Program (FSP) is a modality that also addresses the limitations of other health interventions in single mother, low-income households. The novel FSP financial education/coaching intervention has previously been shown to reduce financial strain and perceived effects of financial strain on health, improve relationships, reduce smoking and increase healthcare access. This manuscript reports the financial and economic stability outcomes of the first randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of the FSP financial education/coaching model in 345 single mother low-income households. FSP participants experienced the following positive economic outcomes compared with control participants: significantly greater increases in mean salary and household income; greater increases in savings; larger reductions in the inability to save money; larger reductions in shut off notices and utility balances; greater increases in paying bills on time, reductions in partial payments, late fees, and overdrawn bank accounts; greater increases in effective monthly cashflow management and decreases in counterproductive financial behaviors. FSP significantly built participants’ capacity to increase income, emergency savings and retirement savings. The FSP model fosters beneficial financial behaviors while diminishing detrimental financial behaviors, as compared to usual care. By mitigating financial stress, individuals graduating from the FSP increase their capability to plan ahead and think more clearly about financial decisions to improve economic stability, and ultimately overall health.