Low Numeracy is Associated with Poor Financial Well-being Around the World
| dc.contributor.author | Slovic, Paul | |
| dc.contributor.author | Bruine de Bruin, Wandi | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-01-06T18:28:23Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-01-06T18:28:23Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-11-22 | |
| dc.description | 15 pages | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Numeracy refers to the ability to use numbers, including converting percentages (e.g., 10%) into absolute frequencies (e.g., 1 in 10). Studies have suggested that numeracy is correlated to financial outcomes, suggesting its relevance to financial decisions. However, almost all research on numeracy has been conducted in high-income countries in Europe and North America. Our analyses suggest that low numeracy is much more common in low-income countries, thus potentially threatening the financial well-being of the world’s poorest. We analyzed data from the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll, which assessed basic numeracy in 141 countries, including 21 low-income, 34 lower middle income, 43 upper middle income, and 43 high-income countries. Numeracy was associated with being among the poorest 20% of one’s country, and with difficulty living on one’s income, even after accounting for income, education, and demographics. These findings underscore the importance of worldwide numeracy education. | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | WBB gratefully acknowledges funding from the LLoyd’s Register Foundation (WRP \100003). The funder had no role in the presented research questions, secondary data analysis, preparation of the manuscript, or decision to publish. The funder did inform the original data collection, and was asked to comment on the paper (which involved minor edits.) | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Bruine de Bruin W, Slovic P (2021) Low numeracy is associated with poor financial well-being around the world. PLoS ONE 16(11): e0260378. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260378 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/26967 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | PLOS | en_US |
| dc.rights | Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US | en_US |
| dc.title | Low Numeracy is Associated with Poor Financial Well-being Around the World | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |