Financial Education and Capability: Research, Education, Policy, and Practice

As financial issues are currently a major concern for families, scholars, and practitioners, students have increased their interest in knowledge and skills for practice that addresses finances. Unfortunately, social workers and other helping professionals often lack preparation, knowledge, and skills to tackle increasingly complex financial problems facing their clients. This volume fills a significant gap by assembling the latest evidence about financial education and financial capability in low-income households, and linking it to education, policy, and practice for helping professionals.
Financial capability, or the ability of people to understand and act in their best financial interest, includes financial knowledge or "financial literacy" and access to beneficial financial services. This volume builds on theoretical, research, policy, and program developments over the past two decades. This book develops the idea and presents evidence that financial capability has a viral role to play in social work research, education, policy, and practice. It examines recent work by scholars who are generating knowledge and understanding about the role of financial capability on individual, family, and community well-being. The volume also reviews initial efforts to build professional capacity in social work to address the financial issues of low- and moderate-income and other vulnerable households and develops an agenda for future research and education.

Julie Birkenmaier, PhD, is Associate Professor, School of Social Work, St. Louis University.
Jami Curley, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Social Work at St. Louis University and Faculty Associate, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.
Margaret Sherraden, PhD, is Professor of Social Work, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Research Professor, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.