Foundations: Two Kinds of NumeracyThere are two very different things people mean when they say “numeracy,” and financial literacy programs almost never distinguish between them. Merriam-Webster (2023) defines numeracy as […]
Whose Knowledge Counts
Fricker (2007) describes something called epistemic injustice, the harm done when prejudice causes someone’s testimony to be dismissed, or when a conceptual gap prevents someone from being able to articulate […]
Four Hundred People Over Seventeen Years
I get asked sometimes why I lean on phenomenology, a fairly unfamiliar word to bring into a conversation about financial literacy, rather than just saying “we listen to our residents.” […]
An Unexamined Assumption
Most financial literacy programs are built on an assumption nobody bothers to state out loud: that financial literacy is primarily a technical competency, numerical reasoning, budgeting calculations, understanding financial products […]
The Test That Showed Nothing, Then Showed Everything
Here’s a finding that reframed how we think about measuring our own program’s effectiveness. Early on, we assessed our financial literacy curriculum using standard, generic financial literacy assessments, the kind […]
A Case Manager’s Question I Still Can’t Answer
“I search for financial literacy programs for my clients, and I find dozens of options. They all say they teach financial literacy. But when I send clients, they come back […]
The 73% Number
That’s the share of our own residents who told us the financial literacy program we’d referred them to was “not relevant to my current situation.” We tracked this ourselves between […]
Useless at Zero Income
“The budgeting worksheet is useless when you have zero income. I need information about applying for benefits and emergency assistance.” That’s a direct quote from a resident evaluation. Read it […]
The Eviction Record
Story from the field: a real disconnect between curriculum and survival need. Anchored to: resident evaluation quote about needing housing help despite already knowing how to budget Before we redesigned […]
Three People, Three Definitions, Same Word
Picture three case managers in three different offices, each trying to do right by their clients. One works from the OECD’s definition of financial literacy: knowledge and understanding of financial […]