Richard L.D. Morse Applied Consumer Economics Award, National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) Paper Award

Enhancing trust in the Social Security Administration

Author(s): Cliff Robb, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Marti Deliema, Assistant Professor and Gerontologist, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; Steve Wendel, Applied Behavioral Scientist

One of the insidious effects of government imposter scams is the potential erosion of trust among those who are targeted. Fraud targets may learn to distrust communications and people who claim to be from the Social Security Administration (SSA) or other federal agencies. This study analyzes how individuals targeted by government imposter scams respond to communications from the SSA and how the SSA can reinforce public trust and willingness to engage. Specifically, the team developed an application to teach individuals how to identify legitimate communications from the SSA, other government bodies, and retail companies. Multiple national samples of Americans, in which some participants were prior victims of scams, were then assigned in randomized trials and their ability to distinguish between real and fraudulent communications was tested. We find nearly universal exposure to fraud attempts in the national samples, low prevalence of paying money to fraud perpetrators in response to those attempts, and a set of personal characteristics that appear to predict low trust in the SSA and other institutions. We also find evidence that interactive online training can help people both trust real communications and identify scams.

Consumer Movement Archives Applied Consumer Economics Award

Exploring cryptocurrency participation, financial knowledge, financial anxiety, and financial stress

Author(s): Zongze Li, Ph.D. Student, University of Georgia; Kristy Archuleta, Professor, University of Georgia

Utilizing the ABC-X model of stress and coping (Hill, 1949) as a framework, the study investigated the direct association between cryptocurrency participation and financial stress and explored if financial knowledge and financial anxiety as coping resources and perceptions mediated this relationship. The data set comes from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). Path analysis was used to investigate the link between cryptocurrency participation, financial knowledge, financial anxiety, and financial stress. The findings suggest that cryptocurrency participation has a direct impact on an individual's level of financial stress. The findings also suggest that people use both subjective and objective financial knowledge as a coping resource to mitigate the level of financial anxiety they feel. The perception of the stressor together with subjective and objective financial knowledge influences an individual's level of financial stress. The results also suggest that objective financial knowledge mediates the relationship between cryptocurrency participation and financial stress.

CFP Board's ACCI Financial Planning Paper Award (co-winner)

Paid family leave: A financial safety net for unpaid family caregivers

Author(s): Somalis Chy, Graduate Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Family caregivers spend around 25% of their income on out-of-pocket caregiving costs. Recent studies have begun to show that these costs add financial strain for caregivers. Using SIPP 2001, 2004, and 2008 panels, I examine the relationship between caregiving and household unsecured debt levels and retirement savings. I then examine whether the introduction of California's paid family leave policy (PFL), which offers at least an eight-week paid leave for employees, impacts this relationship. PFL policy allows caregivers to maintain their employment and a continued stream of income, which may be used to cover caregiving-related expenses. Using difference-in differences methodology, I evaluate the extent to which PFL reduces financial debts and increases retirement savings. Preliminary results show evidence suggesting that PFL leads to changes in unsecured debts and retirement savings for California caregivers, although changes are modest and not significant.

CFP Board's ACCI Financial Planning Paper Award (co-winner)

Difficult economic times, tax credit eligibility, and financial hardship

Author(s): Vivekananda Das, Ph.D. Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Throughout 2022, lower-income households in the United States have faced complex economic challenges, predominantly due to the soaring prices of essential goods and services. According to a Gallup survey conducted in August 2022, about a quarter of lower-income households (annual income below $48,000) reported severe financial hardship. Every year, eligible lower-income working parents, after filing their taxes, start receiving tax refunds (usually in late February) from multiple programs. Existing literature suggests that lower-income working parents find momentary relief from financial struggles in the months following tax credit reception. As the total eligibility depends on the number of dependent children, a relevant question is: does tax credit eligibility have a different relationship with the financial hardship experienced by households with differing numbers of dependent children? This paper, using data from the Household Pulse Survey (HPS), investigates the extent to which financial hardship reported by households with different numbers of dependent children (0, 1, 2, 3, or more) changed in the six post-tax-credit-disbursement months in 2022 (March 2022–September 2022) compared to the six pre-tax-credit-disbursement months (September 2021–February 2022).

Richard LD Morse 应用消费者经济学奖、国家金融教育基金会 (NEFE) 论文奖

增强对社会保障管理部门的信任

作者：Cliff Robb，威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校教授；Marti Deliema，明尼苏达大学双城分校助理教授和老年学家；Steve Wendel，应用行为科学家

政府冒充骗局的潜在影响之一是可能会削弱目标人群之间的信任。欺诈目标可能会学会不信任通信以及自称来自社会保障管理局 (SSA) 或其他联邦机构的人员。本研究分析了政府冒名顶替者诈骗的目标个人如何回应 SSA 的通信，以及 SSA 如何增强公众的信任和参与意愿。具体来说，该团队开发了一款应用程序来教个人如何识别来自 SSA、其他政府机构和零售公司的合法通信。然后将多个美国人的全国样本（其中一些参与者是诈骗的先前受害者）分配到随机试验中，并测试他们区分真实通信和欺诈通信的能力。我们发现，在全国样本中，欺诈企图几乎普遍存在，为应对这些企图而向欺诈犯罪者支付金钱的比例很低，而且一系列个人特征似乎预示着人们对 SSA 和其他机构的信任度较低。我们还发现证据表明，交互式在线培训可以帮助人们信任真实的通信并识别诈骗。

消费者运动档案应用消费者经济学奖

探索加密货币参与、金融知识、金融焦虑和金融压力

作者：李宗泽 博士 佐治亚大学学生；Kristy Archuleta，佐治亚大学教授

该研究利用压力和应对的 ABC-X 模型（Hill，1949）作为框架，调查了加密货币参与与财务压力之间的直接关联，并探讨了金融知识和财务焦虑作为应对资源和认知是否介导了这种关系。数据集来自2018年国家金融能力研究（NFCS）。使用路径分析来调查加密货币参与、金融知识、金融焦虑和金融压力之间的联系。研究结果表明，加密货币参与对个人的财务压力水平有直接影响。研究结果还表明，人们使用主观和客观的财务知识作为应对资源，以减轻他们感受到的财务焦虑程度。对压力源的感知以及主观和客观的财务知识会影响个人的财务压力水平。结果还表明，客观的金融知识可以调节加密货币参与与财务压力之间的关系。

CFP 委员会 ACCI 财务规划论文奖（共同获奖者）

带薪家事假：无薪家庭护理人员的财务安全网

作者：Somalis Chy，威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校研究生

家庭护理人员将其收入的约 25% 用于自付费用。最近的研究开始表明，这些费用增加了护理人员的经济压力。我使用 SIPP 2001、2004 和 2008 年小组研究了护理和家庭无担保债务水平以及退休储蓄之间的关系。然后，我研究了加州带薪家庭休假政策 (PFL) 的推出是否会影响这种关系，该政策为员工提供至少八周的带薪休假。PFL 政策允许护理人员维持其就业和持续的收入来源，这些收入可用于支付护理相关费用。我使用双重差异法评估了 PFL 减少金融债务和增加退休储蓄的程度。

CFP 委员会 ACCI 财务规划论文奖（共同获奖者）

经济困难时期、税收抵免资格和财务困难

作者：Vivekananda Das，博士 威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校学生

2022 年全年，美国低收入家庭面临着复杂的经济挑战，主要原因是基本商品和服务价格飙升。根据盖洛普 2022 年 8 月进行的一项调查，约四分之一的低收入家庭（年收入低于 48,000 美元）报告存在严重的财务困难。每年，符合条件的低收入在职父母在报税后，开始从多个计划获得退税（通常在二月下旬）。现有文献表明，低收入在职父母在获得税收抵免后的几个月内会暂时摆脱财务困境。由于总资格取决于受抚养子女的数量，因此一个相关问题是：税收抵免资格与有不同数量受抚养子女的家庭所经历的经济困难是否有不同的关系？本文利用家庭脉搏调查 (HPS) 的数据，调查了拥有不同数量受抚养子女（0、1、2、3 或更多）的家庭所报告的经济困难在 6 个税后时期的变化程度。与 6 个税前信贷支付月（2021 年 9 月至 2022 年 2 月）相比，2022 年的信贷支付月（2022 年 3 月至 2022 年 9 月）有所增加。