Parents Influence Responsible Credit Use in Young Adults: Empirical Evidence from the United States, France, and Brazil.

From the start of adulthood, consumers are frequently faced with complex financial decisions, and the consequences of these decisions may be reflected throughout the rest of their lives. As access to credit has expanded among college students around the world, it is critical that we understand both universal and culture-specific processes. Although some work has examined credit card use in two cultures simultaneously, there is, to our knowledge, no research examining such use in three cultures on three continents and across both genders. This study analyzes credit card use behavior among 1458 young adults living either in Brazil, the United States, or France. A structural equations model is used to incorporate relationships between the latent variables. The model, which was validated by the study, examines how financial well-being is affected by the way in which the individual uses credit cards, which in its turn is affected by social comparison and by financial self-confidence, the latter being also impacted by the financial education received from the parents. In the comparison between groups we found evidence that men are more dependent on parental education than women.

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Financial Well-Being scale.

OBJECTIVE: To translate and back-translate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Financial Well-Being Scale into Brazilian Portuguese, to assess its cross-cultural semantic equivalence, and to verify the psychometric properties of the final version. METHODS: Adaptation of the original scale applied a three-step methodology: translation and back-translation, appreciation of semantic equivalence, and administration to a convenience sample of 834 subjects. The analysis of psychometric properties comprised evaluation of evidence of the instrument's validity by factor analysis, validity by contrasting groups, and internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The CFPB granted authorization to conduct cross-cultural adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese. RESULTS: Results indicated adequate cultural adaptation between scales, with good equivalence between the original English version and the final Brazilian version. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the instrument's internal consistency in this sample was 0.89. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated high levels of item reliability and goodness of fit, with all 10 items loading onto a single factor, financial well-being. The measure has shown structural stability in two different cultural contexts (Brazil and the USA). CONCLUSION: The Brazilian version demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties and adequate structural and cross-cultural validity and the participants found it easy to understand.

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Financial Well-Being scale

Abstract Objective: To translate and back-translate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Financial Well-Being Scale into Brazilian Portuguese, to assess its cross-cultural semantic equivalence, and to verify the psychometric properties of the final version. Methods: Adaptation of the original scale applied a three-step methodology: translation and back-translation, appreciation of semantic equivalence, and administration to a convenience sample of 834 subjects. The analysis of psychometric properties comprised evaluation of evidence of the instrument's validity by factor analysis, validity by contrasting groups, and internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The CFPB granted authorization to conduct cross-cultural adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese. Results: Results indicated adequate cultural adaptation between scales, with good equivalence between the original English version and the final Brazilian version. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the instrument's internal consistency in this sample was 0.89. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated high levels of item reliability and goodness of fit, with all 10 items loading onto a single factor, financial well-being. The measure has shown structural stability in two different cultural contexts (Brazil and the USA). Conclusion: The Brazilian version demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties and adequate structural and cross-cultural validity and the participants found it easy to understand.

Loss of financial well-being in the COVID-19 pandemic: Does job stability make a difference?

This article aims to assess the loss of financial well-being in the COVID-19 pandemic. The developed theoretical model identifies the impacts of the perception of financial risk and financial anxiety on financial well-being. It also seeks, through a comparative analysis, to assess whether public servants, due to their status of job stability in Brazil, are less likely to have the effects of the pandemic than private employees. A survey was carried out on 1222 Brazilians with structural equation modeling and multi-group invariance tests. The results indicate that lower financial well-being is influenced by the level of financial anxiety and financial risk. Public servants perceive fewer losses in financial well-being, anxiety and risks than other professions. In the pandemic context, where the risks of unemployment and loss of income are increased, job stability works like an insurance, allowing public servants greater financial security and then minor losses of financial well-being. Evidence indicates that in countries where a large percentage of workers have temporary or informal jobs, the challenge of reducing the financial impacts of the pandemic will be great. Interventions to alleviating anxiety and public policies of income transfer and reduction of unemployment are instruments to reduce the loss of financial well-being.

The effect of a savings intervention on women's intimate partner violence victimization: heterogeneous findings from a randomized controlled trial in Colombia.

BACKGROUND: Women's economic empowerment has long been assumed to lead to their social empowerment, but systematic tests of this relationship have only recently begun to appear in the literature. Theory predicts that control over resources, as through a savings account, may increase women's negotiating power and self-efficacy. In this way, "economic empowerment" may lead to "social empowerment," and have related benefits such as helping to reduce risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). The current study tests effects of an economic empowerment intervention on women's social empowerment, IPV victimization, and health. METHODS: We conducted an 18-month randomized controlled trial among 1800 urban poor women in Colombia between 2013 and 2015. The trial tested the impact of a savings account offer bundled with health services (vs. health services alone) on social empowerment outcomes, IPV victimization, and health. RESULTS: The bundled savings treatment did not have average effects on most outcomes, although it produced a small significant increase in financial participation and decrease in symptoms of depression. Treatment effects on perceived norms, decision-making patterns, self-reported IPV victimization, and health depended on whether women's partnerships were free of violence when they entered the trial; specifically, women in nonviolent partnerships at baseline showed more positive effects of the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Although bundling economic empowerment interventions with support features has been shown to empower poor women, this trial found that a bundled treatment did not on average improve most social and health outcomes of poor women experiencing IPV. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered retrospectively, prior to realization of outcomes, 5/29/14: Evidence in Governance and Politics #20140529AA .

Satisfação Global de Vida e Bem-estar Financeiro: desvendando a percepção de beneficiários do Programa Bolsa Família / Satisfacción Global de Vida y Bienestar Financiero: descubriendo la percepción de beneficiarios del Programa Bolsa Familia / Overall Life Satisfaction and Financial Well-Being: Revealing the Perceptions of the Beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família Program

Resumo O estudo teve como objetivo analisar a Satisfação Global de Vida (SGV) e o Bem-estar Financeiro (BEF) de indivíduos de baixa renda. Para isso, foram investigados 595 beneficiários do Programa Bolsa Família (PBF), mediante um questionário. A análise dos dados se deu por meio da estatística descritiva, modelagem de equações estruturais e cluster. Os principais resultados apontam que a amostra está satisfeita de maneira global com a vida, mas preocupa-se e sente-se desconfortável com a quantia que deve, o que minimiza o BEF. Ratificando esse resultado, o cluster de maior representatividade é formado pelos beneficiários com alta SGV e baixo BEF, os quais apresentam condições financeiras precárias, contas em atraso, nome vinculado a um cadastro negativo e restrição orçamentária que não permite a realização de poupança, nem o consumo de coisas extras.

Resumen El estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar la Satisfacción Global de Vida (SGV) y el Bienestar Financiero (BEF) de individuos de baja renta. Para eso, fueron investigados 595 beneficiarios del Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) a través de un cuestionario. El análisis de los datos se realizó por medio de estadística descriptiva, modelaje de ecuaciones estructurales y cluster. Los principales resultados apuntan que la muestra está satisfecha de manera global con la vida, pero se preocupan y se sienten incómodos con el monto que deben, lo que minimiza el BEF. Ratificando este resultado, el cluster de mayor representatividad es formado por beneficiarios con alta SGV y baja BEF, los cuales presentan condiciones financieras precarias, cuentas atrasadas, nombre vinculado a un catastro negativo y restricción presupuestal que no permite la realización de ahorro ni el consumo de cosas extras.

Abstract The study aims to analyze overall life satisfaction (OLS) and the financial well-being (FWB) of low income individuals by investigating 595 beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família Program through a questionnaire. The data analysis includes descriptive statistics, structural equation modeling, and clustering. The main results show that the people in this sample are satisfied overall with life, but are worried about and feel uncomfortable with the amount they owe, which lowers FWB. Confirming this result, the most representative cluster is made up of beneficiaries with high OLS and low FWB, who have precarious financial conditions, past due accounts and negative credit records as well as budget constraints that mean they cannot accumulate savings and cannot afford extra consumption.