We examine financial literacy in Finland and its connection with various financial outcomes using novel survey data collected in 2023. While the overall Finnish financial literacy level is about average among the OECD countries, there is significant heterogeneity within the population. Women have lower financial literacy than men. The young and the old have lower financial literacy than respondents in their prime working age, and entrepreneurs have higher financial literacy than other groups. Financial literacy is also correlated with higher educational levels. We further study the relationship between financial literacy and a number of economic outcome variables. We find financial literacy to be negatively related to coping with a major expense, facing an income shock, and with perceived over-indebtedness. However, we do not find a statistically significant relationship between financial literacy and retirement planning in Finland.

Ireland’s policy approach to personal insolvency went through sudden changes in 2012 after a lengthy period of stability. This article presents the findings of a study examining one of the remedies introduced with the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 (as amended), the Debt Relief Notice (DRN). The study examined the DRN’s effectiveness in addressing the financial well-being of over-indebted individuals. The results revealed a reduction in participants’ financial distress after obtaining a DRN, which in turn enabled increased control over day-to-day finances. Improved health, increased resourcefulness, and lifestyle improvements were also identified when the participants’ financial distress was reduced. However, participants were incapable of attaining long-term financial resilience, and, therefore, were unable to achieve high financial well-being. A negative impact on social mobility was also identified as an outcome. The short-term impact identified is similar to findings of earlier research (Stamp, 2012) examining Ireland’s previous policy approach to personal insolvency.

With the expansion of credit, low interest rates and overly optimistic expectations about future economic and housing price developments, mortgage lending soared in most OECD countries in the run-up to the 2008 global economic crisis. The crisis revealed the hidden epidemic of over-indebtedness, which continues to overshadow the lives of millions in rich countries. In the wake of the global economic crisis, the household debt crisis led to worsening economic conditions and put pressure on government finances, which caused further income shocks in the form of austerity measures such as social welfare cuts and higher taxes. This article is based on a scoping review aimed at summarising and reflecting on the available literature. It analyses the effects of over-indebtedness on individuals and societies across six OECD countries: Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the US.

Irish social policy has, since the early 1990s, prioritised debt advice as the primary policy tool for addressing over-indebtedness, targeting low-income households in particular. This article, which draws on secondary analysis of datasets and qualitative interviews, suggests that ‘person-centred’ debt advice plays a major role in alleviating personal over-indebtedness and its effects among this group. However, the government's objective that it should facilitate financial independence is unrealistic. For such debt advice to be effective, complimentary legal and institutional solutions to debt problems are required in Ireland. The dearth of financial options and resources available also needs to be addressed.

This article reflects on research undertaken with low income households over a 12 month period following the ‘credit crunch’, a period characterised by rapid change to the financial landscape in the UK. It argues that people living on persistent low incomes were casualties of the economic ‘boom’ as they did not benefit from economic growth and of the ‘bust’ in that they most keenly felt the impact of the recession and the reaction of financial institutions to the new financial landscape. It concludes by arguing that, reflecting on the complexity of people's lives, addressing indebtedness requires a multi-faceted approach.