The Effects of Financial Education on Financial Literacy and Savings Behavior: Evidence from a Controlled Field Experiment in Dutch Primary Schools

Abstract

This article reports the results of a controlled field experiment designed to estimate the short-term effects of a 45-minute financial education program on the financial literacy and savings behavior of children in Dutch primary schools. Among fifth and sixth graders, the program led to a pre- to posttest improvement in financial literacy on almost one of eight questions, with about one-third of the increase in correctness attributable to the program. It also raised the probability of willingness to save by 4 percentage points. Nonetheless, whereas the program appears effective in respect to questions that explicitly address program content, its significant effects on financial literacy seem primarily driven by the results for girls, although we cannot reject homogeneous treatment effects with respect to gender.