Experimental Evaluation of a Financial Education Program in Elementary and Middle School Grades

Abstract

This paper investigates whether providing financial education in elementary and middle school grades improves students' financial proficiency and actual behavior. It uses a cluster randomized control trial to evaluate a pilot program implemented in 101 Brazilian municipal schools in 2015. The findings show positive impacts on financial proficiency, mainly among middle school students, and suggestive evidence of improvements in short-term behavioral outcomes. However, the analysis indicates that the program did not impact students' school achievements in both the short and longer terms, which suggests that the program's effects were not strong enough to shift students' behavior decisions.