How To Bring Financial Literacy to Marginalized Communities

Sandra Buttry

Financial education has been proven to help people increase their financial assets while fostering savings and asset ownership. Yet, the people who need financial education the most are the least likely to get it — especially in communities of color. As a solution, we need to prioritize financial literacy — finding new ways to meet those who need this information where they live and work.

Personal finance is 20% knowledge and 80% behavior. You make some of the most important financial decisions when you’re young. Consumer debt devastates wealth. Financial literacy encourages people to pay bills on time, increases preparedness, and allows people to avert significant debt. These well-educated on financial concepts are also very likely to set aside savings and pass on knowledge to their children.

Financial literacy also empowers communities. It will lead to food security and a more vital and educated workforce, resulting in a lower crime rate, fewer foreclosures in our neighborhoods, less stress, and happier individuals and families. There are abundant studies that illustrate the genuine impact of financial literacy: improved rates of savings, lower levels of debt, and increased rates of asset accumulation, to name a few.

However, giving low-income families the tools they need to create and protect their wealth benefits everyone. We all benefit from avoiding losing our economic security, and we all benefit from sharing in the prosperity of our free, capitalist system. To help make that happen, I believe financial literacy has the potential to transform many people’s lives by empowering them to build their wealth with confidence.

In many ways, the disparities in access to financial education and financial services play out as young people enter the workforce. One is the significant wealth gap growing across our country. White families hold nearly eight times the wealth of Black families and more than five times that of Hispanic families. While multiple factors contribute to this reality, financial literacy is a compounding factor. People with lower levels of financial literacy are more likely to rely on credit cards and less likely to plan for retirement or have an emergency fund. This economic insecurity can follow them into the workplace and negatively impact their career goals.”

How can people from marginalized communities access financial literacy?

I’ve seen that providing opportunities to learn the basics of money management is vital. That’s why programs that help people become more financially literate are essential; they can be the first step toward a brighter future — especially for low-income households lacking access to financial advice and education.

You can take many steps to bring financial literacy to marginalized communities. Here are five crucial ones:

1. Enable the use of mobile devices by partnering with community-based organizations that deliver educational programs using technology.

2. Engage people who speak other languages so they can understand written materials and learn vocabulary through mobile apps and interactive lessons.

3. Include popular topics such as saving and spending on social media, so information is shared when it’s most relevant to community members.

4. Create easy-to-understand graphics and video communication channels so people can access informational tips in their everyday lives anytime or at night.

5. Create partnerships with businesses and financial institutions so more people have access to products like savings accounts, savings clubs, checking accounts, and microloans for low-income individuals

Financial literacy is essential to every person’s life, especially for vulnerable populations. We need to make financial education a standard part of every school’s curriculum; we also need to introduce better tools than ever before that are more widely accessible through th. In the long run, saving for retirement is your goal, but you can also do many other things.

We must combine financial literacy education efforts with job training, financial assistance, and support to ensure that we can affect the lives of more people in this country. By bringing financial literacy to marginalized communities, we can create a culture of financial inclusion.