About

Social work clients often face complex financial problems. Although social workers can address clients’ financial problems through a variety of practice strategies, little is known about the effectiveness of these strategies in response to clients’ financial difficulties.

Financial social work is a holistic social work orientation focusing on financial well-being at individual and community levels. Financial guidance and advice, psychosocial support and structural social work are essential elements of financial social work practice. In social work among families with children, this framework is not familiar, particularly in Finland, although the need for assistance for financial problems are increasing. There is a need to develop effective and professional interventions and services to support families’ financial well-being. By designing and implementing a financial social work intervention, we provide financial guidance and support services to clients in social work experiencing complex financial problems.

In this project, we develop a financial social work intervention aiming to increase financial literacy and reduce financial anxiety among parents in family and adult social work services. The intervention has four components: personal finances, eco-social perspectives to finances, family budget and feelings and thoughts concerning finances. Families will meet their social worker together with a project researcher a total of five times in a span of 2 to 4 months.

We will use a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of the model, and to assess its feasibility. There will be three measuring points: prior to the intervention, after the intervention and a follow-up measuring three months after the intervention. There will also be qualitative interviews with both the parents and the social workers after the intervention.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Social and Health Affairs in Finland for years 2021–2023.