Mad City Money

Mad City Money Simulation

A United Way of Greater Kansas City Initiative

Previous LiteratureMany young people never learn the

importance of being financially prudent Class of 2015 average student loan

debt is $35,000 (Sparshott, 2015).Class of 2015 average starting salary is

$45,478 (Poppick, 2015).

Previous Literature Continued

Financial literacy/illiteracy tends to persist.

Many young people learn their spending habits from watching their parents

Campenhout (2015) suggests delivering financial literacy on a “just-in-time” basis. Mad City Money intervenes “just-in-time”

Mad City Money Program Evaluation

Primary goal: evaluate the participants attitude changes in the way they perceive their finances, budgeting, and financial goals that the student’s may experience due to their participation in the Mad City Money Program.

Method- Participants Students from targeted low income schools that

participated in the Mad City Money Simulation became the participants for the Mad City Money Program Evaluation.

Targeted schools: Grandview Allen Village Center

**Targeted schools = higher rates of poverty

Method- MaterialsTwo surveys were administered to the

participants.Time 1 – initial assessment: prior to the

program simulation the students were asked to fill out a survey regarding their perception and knowledge of money and their future finances.

Time 2 – second assessment: approximately three weeks after the program simulation the students were asked to fill out another survey regarding their perception and knowledge of money and their future finances.

Method- ProcedurePaired samples t-test was used to analyze the data

Typically used in pre- and post- test studies Important to match the pairs in order to be able to

statistically conclude whether the Mad City Money Simulation had any impact on the student’s who participated in it.

Statistical significance – A result that is not likely to occur randomly, but rather is likely to be attributable to a specific cause. For example to be significant a p value has to be .05 or less .05 means there is less than a 1% likelihood that the finding is due to chance.

Method-ProcedureChose to run a dependent t-test because it eliminates

the individual differences that occur between subjects. This increases the power of the test.

More likely to detect any significant differences using the dependent t-test vs. the independent t-test.

Mean = average of all of the student’s answers for a particular question. It is important to match the means of the answers of the questions from the pre- and post- test surveys to convey if the Mad City Money simulation had an increase, decrease, or no effect on the knowledge of financial literacy of the students.

ResultsBudgeting – “How likely are you to budget

for monthly expenses?”

Time One Time Two 0123456

Mean Average

Mean Average

P=.05

ResultsBudgeting – “How much do you know about

budgeting?”

Time One Time Two4.64.8

55.25.45.6

Mean Average

Mean Average

P=.05

ResultsSpending – “How often do you track your

spending?”

Time One Time Two 0123456

Mean Average

Mean Average

P< .01

ResultsConfidence – “How confident are you in your

ability to set financial goals?”

Time One Time Two 5

5.15.25.35.45.55.65.75.85.9

Mean Average

Mean Average

P = .02

Surprising ResultsGPA – Importance of having a high GPA

Statistically significant decreaseTime One: 7.17Time Two: 6.8

GPA – Importance in relation to how much a person can earn upon graduation No statistical significance was found Time One: 5.91Time Two: 5.78

ResultsBank Account – “How much do you know

about opening a bank account?”No statistical significance was foundTime One: 4.26Time Two: 4.83

Spending – “How likely are you to spend money on items you want but are not a necessity?” No statistical significance was found Time One: 4.70Time Two: 4.68

ResultsConfidence – Importance of setting aside

money for long-term goals No statistical significance Time One: 6.52Time Two: 6.58

Confidence – “How confident are you in your ability to manage money in the real world?”No statistical significance Time One: 5.83Time Two: 5.96

DiscussionFindings demonstrate that the Mad City Money

Simulation helped to provide students with knowledge on how to budget.

Participants reported having a statistically significant increase in confidence with ability to set financial goals, knowledge about budgeting, and ability to track their spending.

The most surprising finding was in relation to GPA. The goal was to increase the importance of maintaining a high GPA, however the data demonstrated that there was a decrease in perceived importance of maintaining a high GPA and no change in their perception of how GPA is related to later earning potential.

ImplicationsBased off of the data we recommend continuing

the current curriculum in most areas.Re-focus how to convey the importance of GPA

and future financial success.

Future DirectionsOn post-test create a question asking if the student

attended the Mad City Money Evaluation.Excluded three students who indicated that they did

not participate in the Mad City Money simulation.On pre-test create a question asking if the student

had attended the Mad City Money Evaluation before.

Keep the name and/or student ID number line the same for both pre- and post- surveys to be able to match up more pre- and post- surveys.

Future Directions Continued

Putting a date on the pre- and post- surveys so that we know when each of the surveys was administered

Be able to obtain complete demographic data from each school district.

Ask teachers to check the survey sheets when collecting them to ensure that every student wrote their name on the survey.

References Beverly, S., (2012). Assets for Independence. CSD Working Papers. J. Sparshott. (2015, May 8). Congratulations, Class of 2015. You’re the

Most Indebted Ever (For Now) [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/05/08/congratulations-class-of-2015-youre-the-most-indebted-ever-for-now/

S. Poppick (2015, April 22). Here’s What the Average Grad Makes Right Out of College. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://time.com/money/3829776/heres-what-the-average-grad-makes-right-out-of-college/

Pillai, K. R., (2012). Financial Prudence among Youth. The Journal Contemporary Management Research, 6(2), 52 – 68.

Campenhout, G. V., (2015). Revaluing the Role of Parents as Financial Socialization Agents in Youth Financial Literacy Programs. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 49(1), 186 – 222. doi: 10.1111/joca.12064