A Financial Literacy Toolkit For Women In Rural India
Keywords: Product design, Design for social impact, Print design
Tools: Adobe Indesign, Adobe Illustrator
How can we encourage women in rural India with no prior knowledge of economics or finance, and no access to a financial advisor, to engage with concepts of financial literacy?
Impetus
During my undergraduate study, I spent two months with talented and industrious craftswomen in Kutch, Gujarat, India. Yet, they lead a hand-to-mouth subsistence because of a lack of emphasis on financial literacy.
How could we help them make timely choices to secure their financial future?
Overview
Unfortunately, this scenario holds for women across ages, economic backgrounds, and educational levels worldwide. Olivia S. Mitchell, a Wharton business professor, and Annamaria Lusardi, a George Washington School of Business professor, found a consistent pattern through their international surveys: men tend to be more financially literate than women.
But why? In many societies, men would traditionally assume roles where they controlled the finances and were more likely to work outside the home and thus be exposed to financial matters. Over time, it became culturally acceptable for women to shift the responsibility for their financial health and future onto their fathers or spouses (source).
There are many reasons to advocate for financial literacy for women. Yet, there is intrinsic resistance that years of conditioning and traditional gender roles pose. Studies show "that women don't find money and investing as interesting as men" and that "women are more likely to find investment decisions stressful, difficult and time-consuming (source)"
Primary Research And Market Audit
To design a product, it was essential to know about the resources available and the successes and struggles associated with each. I decided to teach myself the principles of financial literacy.
Here are different modes through which one can learn about personal finance–
Games
A game presents content in an engaging way and provides context for its application. An example is Bite Club, where players need to balance their debt, expenditure, and saving for the future. By featuring vampires, who live forever, the game highlights the impact of long-term savings.
Books
There are countless books about personal finance for people of all ages. Examples of books about personal finance for women are Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach and Financially Fearless by Alexa Van Toben. It is challenging to track one's progress and stay motivated while reading the books.
Websites and blogs
There are many resources dedicated to helping one manage their finances. Most of them use technical terms that can be intimidating for a beginner. The information is dispersed and sometimes contradictory. Learning is time-intensive, and it's difficult to understand the real-world implications.
Mobile Applications
Mobile applications can help in budgeting, saving, and investing. Examples include Digit, Acorns, and Mint. A limitation is these are only accessible to those with a smartphone and a bank account. Also, often the user has no understanding about what is happening with their money.
Key Insights
Introducing Money Made Easy
A physical toolkit– that distills the vast amount of information available and lays out a roadmap to financial independence. It is meant for women with no prior knowledge of economics or finance, and no access to a financial advisor.
The goal was to create content that is relevant to their lives and could aid them in tangible ways. The toolkit uses basic English and builds a foundation of math, before tackling more complex concepts.
Contents
1 | An Instruction Manual
A step-by-step guide on how to use the product. It recommends completing the workbook first, followed by learning about different personal finance concepts at one's own pace. Since mastering any new skill takes time and patience, one needs to be persistent.
Instead of an extrinsic reward system, the toolkit relies on intrinsic motivation. In the beginning, women are asked questions about how this knowledge can help their future selves and why they decided to learn about money. The answers are kept in plain sight- available for easy retrieval- a reminder of their reasons to initiate this process.
2 | A Workbook
The most crucial part of the toolkit. Over the course of thirty days, it guides women through the basics of budgeting, saving, investing, earning, and learning itself. The idea is to demystify money, to break down something that seems insurmountable into smaller, manageable tasks.
3 | "Things I Should Know" Booklets
These introduce various topics. It starts with ones that concern an individual and extends to those that tackle the banking system and finally the economy.
4 | "When The Going Gets Tough" Cards
These have inspirational quotes from strong women who have lived life on their own terms.
5 | Basic Stationery
Includes a notebook, a pen, a pencil, a calculator, post-its, and paper clips. The idea is that women should have the opportunity to document their journey, make notes, highlight important sections, write questions, seek answers, debate, discuss, learn, grow.
Future Iterations
The cost of the toolkit will have to be minimized so that it can reach a larger number of people. One way to increase the outreach is to upload the material as open-source information on the internet, for wide-spread distribution. Another is to partner with the government or local non-profits.
This toolkit could be used as a blueprint, and adapted to different situations, to raise awareness about financial literacy. There is potential to reuse the curriculum in schools and workplaces for people of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of financial literacy.