‘Your Money Matters’ evaluation

1. Description of the programme
2. The study
3. What are the outcomes?
4. Key findings
5. Points to consider

Description of the programme

The ‘Your Money Matters’ programme ran between 2006 and 2009, aiming to improve older people’s knowledge, skills and confidence in managing their money. The service provided practical, individual assistance to older people in overcoming money management and debt problems. In addition, it aimed to raise awareness of the issues of older people, debt and money management.

There were 17 individual ‘Your Money Matters’ projects: 15 in England, one in Wales and one in Scotland. Each project was based within the premises of a community partner organisation. Once a month, projects ran awareness-raising sessions, providing general information on money management to groups of older people. Topics included budgeting, identity theft, income maximisation and debt counselling. At the time this evaluation was written, these sessions had reached approximately 12,800 older people.

In addition to these group sessions, people could see an advisor at additional one-to-one sessions. At the time of the evaluation, 2,000 older people had received money management and debt advice through these sessions, with the option for older people to receive home visits and to self-refer themselves to advisors.

The study

The evaluation sample is based on those who participated in the one-to-one advice service (i.e. casework clients). Older people who only attended the awareness raising session are not included. This means that the evaluation focuses on the impact only of the one-to-one sessions. To recruit clients for interview, each of the ‘Your Money Matters’ advisers sent out a number of letters to people on their case management database (effectively utilising an ‘opt-in’ recruitment process).

NRDC researchers interviewed 77 older people (38 men and 39 women) by telephone who had used the ‘Your Money Matters’ service. The majority (56%) of service users interviewed were aged between 61 and 75; just over a fifth (21%) were aged between 50 and 60 and a sixth (15%) were aged 76 or over. A further ten clients were interviewed in a more in-depth fashion.

Fifteen ‘Your Money Matters’ advisers were also interviewed as part of this research strand. Most were interviewed by telephone, although three interviews were conducted face-to-face. Advisers were asked about the development of the service; training and support; client needs; daily activities; issue and challenges; and the future of ‘Your Money Matters’. Supplementary interviews were carried out with representatives from community partner organisations. The questionnaire for community partners asked about the services provided by the host organisation; the fit between these and ‘Your Money Matters’; the issues and challenges involved in the relationship; and the needs of older people in the locality.

In addition to this qualitative data, quantitative data (from 72 of the 77 interviewees) were gathered via a client questionnaire. This contained both scaled items, where participants were asked to ‘tick a box’, and open questions, where interviewees were given an option to elaborate on their responses. Both the interviews and the survey focused on individuals’ experiences with the ‘Your Money Matters’ service, as well as their general life experiences with finance, financial products, money management, savings and debt.

What are the outcomes?

• Financial wellbeing
• Financial behaviour
• Financial capability (connection)
• Financial capability (mindset)
• Financial capability (ability)
• Other

Key findings

• Financial wellbeing: Over three-quarters of clients (78%) reported that their financial situation had improved as a result of their involvement in the service. In interviews, clients paid tribute to the resourcefulness of advisers in maximising their entitlement to benefits and finding financial aid from sources including organisations helping ex-servicemen and women that they would never have approached themselves.
• Financial behaviour: At the end of the programme, over three-quarters of participants answered that they knew a lot and felt confident (36%) or knew quite a lot and were fairly confident (42%). Asked if they would have made a different assessment of their own financial ability prior to taking part in ‘Your Money Matters’, just over half (54%) reported that they would have done: the remainder reported that they would have said the same thing. Prior to taking part in the programme, those participants whose answer changed would have assessed themselves as less financially capable, with 47% stating ‘there is a great deal they don’t know and don’t feel at all confident’ at the start.
• Financial capability (ability): Asked to expand on the impact of ‘Your Money Matters’ on their financial capability, several clients said the adviser had empowered them to help themselves in the future and some spoke of how they were now able to take on an active role in managing their finances.
• Financial capability (connection): All of the 10 ‘Your Money Matters’ clients interviewed in-depth achieved some increase in income from increased access to financial services. All had been under-claiming, most from ignorance of their entitlements. The two most common additional benefits were Pension Credit and Attendance Allowance/Disability Living Allowance. There had also some cases of overcharging, mistaken transactions and non-beneficial contracts which had been re-negotiated. The most dramatic of these was the reduction of a utilities bill from over £1,000 to £400.
• Financial capability (mindset): Almost all of the in-depth interviewees had adopted at least some new strategies for dealing more effectively with their money and had been encouraged to take more care and responsibility for the process (e.g. better budgeting). The experience of dealing successfully with ‘Your Money Matters’ changed how most of the clients felt about claiming for benefits and entitlements. Any shame and reluctance to ask had been replaced by a sense of entitlement and justification. Some felt that they could ring agencies themselves with more confidence. Others felt that if they had a problem or felt that there was something more that they might be entitled to they would not delay again.
• Other: About two-thirds of clients reported that their involvement with ‘Your Money Matters’ had had an impact on aspects of their lives beyond their immediate financial situation. This included a positive effect on their emotional health, with a reduction in anxiety and worry (6%). A smaller number of clients reported relief from more serious problems such as depression or suicidal thoughts (8%) and existing physical conditions such as heart problems (11%). In interviews, clients indicated that advisers took away feelings of helplessness and made clients believe that they were back in control of their lives. Even those who had to declare themselves bankrupt felt that through their involvement with ‘Your Money Matters’ their lives were returning to normal.
• Process findings: Overall, advisers appreciated the autonomy they exercised in their role: most welcomed the opportunities the job gave them to use their initiative. All the advisers NRDC interviewed enjoyed their job, and stated that they experienced a great amount of job satisfaction. All community partner organisations were very positive about ‘Your Money Matters’, and most reported that basing the adviser in their premises had enhanced the services already offered by their organisation. In general, almost all advisers and community partners spoke of the enormous need there was for a money advice service for older people in their area, with ‘Your Money Matters’ serving as a good base for a more comprehensive offering in the future.

Points to consider

• Methodological limitations: as the findings are based on a volunteer sample, they cannot be assumed to be representative, and any bias may partially account for the overwhelmingly positive feedback on the ‘Your Money Matters’ service. The small sample size in comparison to the overall client base also limits the representativeness of the findings.
• Relevance: the findings presented in this report provide a comprehensive and detailed picture of how older people struggle to cope with their finances in the modern world.
• Generalisability: although focused on the ‘Your Money Matters’ casework programme, the findings can be transferred to older people located across the UK. The interview data, in particular, reveals some universal themes and comments that are likely to resonate with many older individuals.
• Applicability: this report will be of most use for organisations working with older people, who are running, or about to initiate some form of financial intervention. The thorough guidance and thematic knowledge contained within will serve as an excellent basis for future work with older individuals.

Full report

'Your Money Matters' evaluation - full report