Financial Literacy Education Programmes for Mitigating Economic Stress among Middle-Aged Adults in the Formal Sector of Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State

Abstract

The study examined financial literacy education programmes for mitigating economic stress among middle-aged adults in the formal sector of Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State. The study was guided by four objectives and four research questions. The descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study. The population of the study is 4,356 middle-aged adults and experts consisting of 4,331 middle-aged adults who are staff from the three public universities in Rivers State which are Rivers State University, University of Port Harcourt and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and 25 financial experts. The sample size of the study was 405 respondents comprising 380 middle aged adults who are staff from the three public universities in Rivers State which are Rivers State University, University of Port Harcourt and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and 25 financial experts. The sample size was determined using the Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table. The proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample size of the middle-aged adults in the various universities while the entire 25 financial experts were studied without sampling due to their manageable size. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Financial Literacy Education Programmes for Mitigating Economic Stress among Middle-Aged Adults in the Formal Sector Questionnaire”. The instruments was validated by three experts while the reliability of the instrument was established through a test of internal consistency using Cronbach Alpha method. Coefficients of 0.73, 0.71 and 0.83 were obtained for the various clusters of the instrument which showed that the instrument was reliable. The research questions of the study were answered using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study revealed among others that middle-aged adults in the formal sector of Port Harcourt metropolis exhibited low levels of financial literacy, while financial experts exhibited high levels of financial literacy. Workplace financial wellness programmes mitigate economic stress among middle-aged adults in the formal sector of Port Harcourt Metropolis to a high extent. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that employers in the formal sector of Port Harcourt metropolis should implement mandatory financial wellness programmes as core employee benefits.

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