Struggling to Make Ends Meet: Using Financial Diaries to Examine Financial Literacy Among Low-Income Canadians.

Concern about financial literacy is rising. But national surveys of financial literacy are not very helpful regarding the literacy characteristics of the poor. This case study uses the financial diary method to examine the financial literacies of 13 poor Canadians. The results found that most partic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of Poverty Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 331 - 356
Main Authors:	Buckland, Jerry, Fikkert, Antonia, Gonske, Joel
Format:	Article
Published:	Taylor & Francis Ltd Jul-Sep2013
Subjects:	Poor people Financial literacy Personal finance Income Consumption (Economics) Canadians
Online Access:	View this record in EBSCOhost

Description
Summary:	Concern about financial literacy is rising. But national surveys of financial literacy are not very helpful regarding the literacy characteristics of the poor. This case study uses the financial diary method to examine the financial literacies of 13 poor Canadians. The results found that most participants kept their spending in line with their income and tracked their spending, and several demonstrated financial resilience. Many participants appreciated involvement in the study because it further developed their skills in tracking their expenses and articulating financial goals. Approximately 40% of the participants had reasonably healthy finances, many of them newcomer Canadians.