Case Study: Citi-Tsao Foundation Financial
Education Programme for Mature Women
Mary Ann B. Geronimo
Programme Manager
Tsao Foundation
Engendering self-efficacy
in financial education among mature women
•
“Money” strikes FEAR
•
Singapore is fastest ageing country in the
world
•
Today: 1 out of 12 is above age 65
•
In 2030: 1 out of 5
•
Women will outlive men by 6 years on average
Feminization of Ageing*
*Reference: 1999 report by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Ageing Population (IMC Report)
•
Older women will outnumber
older men
•
Year 2000: 1,720 females per
1,000 males among 80 years
old and above
Feminization of Ageing*
•
Women without life partners are
likely to depend heavily on their
children on their old age.
•
Single women often assume
care-giving and financial
responsibility of looking after
elderly parents.
•
Women with below secondary
school qualification will have
difficulty saving money for old
age.
•
There is significant disparity in
the CPF balance between men
Feminization of Ageing*
•
Close to half of the women
population is not able to rely on
the country’s main social
protection mechanism.
•
Women live longer but with
greater level of disability and
functional dependence.
•
Current acute care financing
system essentially excludes
current cohorts of older women.
•
Existing arrangement of
dependence by the elderly on the
family usually places younger
•
Women have well-developed
saving habit.
•
They save primarily for
children’s education or for
family emergencies.
•
Women know approximate
cost of running their
household.
•
New ethos has set in among
mothers:
No expectation of children’s
money in retirement.
•
They aim to live simply and
without debt.
•
They have insurance schemes
but don’t know if adequate.
Generative Themes
•
Access loans for students in
tertiary education
•
Health impacts of ageing,
including long term illnesses
•
Financial needs in old age
•
Planning with fixed timelines
•
Debts and how not to fear all
debts irrationally
Training Curriculum
Module 1: Self-Assessment &Looking at the Future
Session 1: Overview of the Programme Session 2: Appreciating Ageing
Session 3: Balancing the Finances Session 4: Facing the Future
Module 2: Safety Nets
Session 1: Financial Safety Nets Session 2: When Things Go Wrong Session 3: Getting to ‘Yes’
Session 4: In this Together
Module 3: Common Financial Instruments
Session 1: The Importance of Savings Session 2: On Borrowing
Session 3: On Finding a ‘Good’ Loan Session 4: Making Money Work for You
Module 4: Investments
Session 1: An Introduction to Investments Session 2: Making Investments Work for You Session 3: On Being a Business Woman
Session 4: Going into Business
Module 5: Empowerment
Session 1: Where there is a Will… Session 2: Coping with Crises Session 3: Taking Stock
See – Judge – Act
• Collection of information • Approaches: • News reports • Quizzes • Appraising principles, values and insights• Approaches:
• Case studies
• Self Reflection
• Putting new learning into practice
• Approaches:
• Tools
• References
Realizing PRAXIS
Examining concepts or subjects
“Re-creating” them to fit their context
Try and prove their
usefulness
Engendering Safety & Sound Relationships
• Trainers as “GUIDE on the side”; not a “SAGE on the stage”
• Respect for individual point-of-views
• Learning Group Partners as mediators and facilitators
Accountability – Learners as Decision-makers
Empowering women to make decisions• Being truthful with one’s self
Self-Efficacy: Symbolizing
• Role plays, sharing of actual experience
• Observing “peer model”
Self-Efficacy: Forethought
• Thinking about the future
Self-Efficacy: Vicarious
• Reading through case studies
• Observing a cohort
Self-Efficacy: Self-regulatory
• Open expression of
self-regulation for tasks that they consider as beyond their
capability
• Self-efficacious cohorts again serve as “peer model”
Self-Efficacy: Self-reflective
• Comparing performance, experiences or even insights among cohorts
• Some tend to overestimate capabilities and some do underestimate
self-Evaluating Impacts
12 Main Themes1. Optimism about ageing2. Ability to conduct a financial assessment 3. Ability to Budget
4. Existent safety nets
5. Assertiveness levels and ability to communicate one's needs to the partner and the family
6. Monitoring of one's financial statement 7. Debt Levels
8. Informed use of bank services and products 9. Updated assessment of one's investments 10. Ability to manage a business
11. Estate planning & ability to manage a crisis 12. Financial plan
Intermediate Programme Results
• More than 400 women have joined the programme
• 13 Learning Groups composed of about 260 women have completed the whole programme
• Drop out rate: 30% of participants
• 50% of remaining cohorts have been absent only in 5 sessions
Intermediate Programme Results
• Sessions have served as eye-opener – a realization that self-confidence is crucial to achieve the plans that they set for themselves.
• Women have understood that they are capable of making decisions.
• Homemakers have started looking for work or have started to venture into small entrepreneurial activities.
• Now more empowered to seek more information from banks, their financial planners and
government agencies particularly, CPF.
• A number of women have also pro-actively sought for and enrolled in various
self-Policy implication
•
Pilot testing mode
•
Upscaling