Publication type
Journal Article
Author
Publication date
June 1, 2022
Summary:
This paper examines the role of numeracy in smoothing financial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that numeracy was associated with a 30% reduction in late or non-payment of bills and a 20% reduction in the odds of feeling financially squeezed. The effect of numeracy on financial wellbeing was remarkably consistent across levels of education, ethnicity, and gender, suggesting that improving numeracy levels in the population may be an effective strategy to increase financial capability across the board. However, while numerate individuals were less likely to experience financial difficulty, high numeracy did not predict narrower gaps between Whites and ethnic minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments must take seriously the need to address the constraints and institutional barriers that keep individuals from achieving financial wellbeing.
Published in
Numeracy
Volume
Volume: 15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.15.1.1399
ISSN
19364660
Subjects
Notes
Open Access
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
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