During fieldwork, a case manager said something that’s stuck with me: “I need something I can reference when I’m trying to figure out where to send clients. Something that explains […]
Redundant, and Ignored Anyway
Tout (1997) made an argument I think about often: the phrase “critical numeracy” shouldn’t need to exist. Real numeracy, properly defined, already includes critical thinking. Adding the word “critical” in […]
The Debt That Was Never a Choice
Some of the residents who come through Fresh Start Housing arrive already carrying debt they never agreed to. Pogrebin et al. (2014) documented this precisely for returning citizens: parole fees, […]
Numeracy vs. genuine financial literacy
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 […]