Updated: 1/13/2023

Help us keep the toolkit updated by suggesting new frameworks. We would like to thank UVA SEED for their contributions to this toolkit.

Framework Summary Region Pros Cons Source
Financial Health Network Measures ability to save, borrow, and spend. Focuses on planning ahead and spending habits less than income and financial conditions. United States Considers spending habits. Measures pathways to outcomes, not outcomes themselves. https://finhealthnetwork.org/tools/financial-health-score/
Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CPFB) 100-point scale. Self-reported objective financial measurements. Subjective feelings of financial health. United States and Europe Considers confidence and feelings of financial efficacy. Wide disparities between financial feelings and reality. https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/201709_cfpb_financial-well-being-in-America.pdf
Gallup Method Subjective measure of financial control and objective measure of financial security. Response to 10 binary questions. Investigates correlation between control and security. United States Correlation between perceived low financial control and financial health. Not globally applicable. No correlation between income level and financial control. https://news.gallup.com/reports/233399/gallup-global-financial-health-study-2018.aspx
Global Compact on Refugees (GCR): Indicator Questions work around big, aggregated data (ex. “percentage of target population living below the national poverty line”) Global Gives a local scale and context to the issue. Simple and effective measure of basic financial independence. Big data drives accuracy. Collection can be hindered by legal/government disputes. https://www.unhcr.org/global-compact-refugees-indicator-report/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2021/11/2021_GCR-Indicator-Report_spread_web.pdf#_ga=2.223815835.1062679072.1673634338-2069664263.1673634338
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Generalized framework predicated on four objectives: (1) easing pressure on host countries, (2) enhancing refugee self-reliance, (3) expanding access to third country solutions, and (4) supporting conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity. Global Excellent for demonstration of causes of financial issues rather than only results. Comparable globally. Data-centric and invasive. At times inapplicable due to its breadth. https://www.poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/publications/IPA Financial Health - Full Report Final.pdf
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Melbourne Institute (MI) Two-part survey containing subjective financial health feelings and transactional data. Part one has 10 questions about status, security, wellbeing. Part two uses customer transaction data. Australia Subjective measures complemented with objective numbers. Difficult to expand beyond Australia. Transactional data is hard to come by. https://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2839429/CBA_MI_Tech_Report_No_1.pdf
Financial Sector Deepening Uses nine indicators to judge person’s ability to manage shocks, invest in future. Uses binary scale. Deemed financially healthy if they choose positively on 6/9 indicators. Kenya Uses pre-established financial tools. Binary indicator is not applicable across all contexts. https://www.fsdkenya.org/financial-health/financial-health/
Financial well-being. Elaine Kempson et al. / U.K., Canada, Norway, Ireland, Australia & New Zealand
(Government-University
partnership) A measure of financial capability and distress that is derived from 11 survey questions. These questions are grouped into "components" of financial health using statistical methods, and a score out of 100 is calculated for each component and for the overall financial wellbeing of the respondent. This index is one example of a series of studies conducted in various countries. / U.K., Canada, Norway, Ireland, Australia & New Zealand https://www.ccpc.ie/business/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/12/Financial-Well-being-in-Ireland-Final-December-2018.pdf
BFA Global A tool that allows individuals to evaluate their own financial well-being by answering 12 simple questions. These questions can be answered on their own or with the help of a financial institution representative. The answers are then converted into a score from 0 to 10, which gives a snapshot of the individual's financial health. The index reflects four aspects of financial health: day-to-day, opportunities, resilience, and agency. Mexico https://bfaglobal.com/finnsalud/insights/financial-health-in-mexico-a-new-tool-for-measurement/

Free-standing Indicators of Financial Health (not scored):

Survey Program Sample Indicator
Global Findex, World Bank Proportion of adults who have the ability to obtain 1/20th of their Gross National Income per capita for an emergency situation within a timeframe of 30 days.
Survey of Household Economics and Decision Making (SHED), Federal Reserve Board (U.S.) Proportion of adults who have the means to pay for a hypothetical expense of $400 using cash or its equivalent.
Wealth and Assets Survey, Office for National Statistics (U.K.) Percentage of families that possess enough officially recognized financial resources to endure a quarter-long decrease in income from employment within the household
How’s life? 2020: Measuring well-being report (OECD) Percentage of individuals who report experiencing difficulty or great difficulty in meeting their financial needs.
Wealth distribution database (OECD) Percentage of people who lack financial stability (do not have enough easily accessible funds to sustain them at the poverty level for over three months)

References:

https://www.unsgsa.org/sites/default/files/resources-files/2021-11/Measuring-Financial-Health-note-v2.pdf

Delivering Financial Health Globally: A collection of insights, approaches and recommendations