Industry News

On February 4, 2019, the Center for State & Local Government Excellence (SLGE) released its report, Financial Literacy Programs for Local Government Employees. SLGE conducted an in-depth analysis of local government financial literacy programs. The findings indicated that about 25% of local government employers in the U.S. offer such programs to their workforce and 13% reported that their jurisdiction is currently planning a program. Of those offering financial literacy programs, more than 75% include planning for retirement and budgeting and planning, and more than 50% cover debt and investments.

The report provides: 1) background information on the local government workforce; 2) review of literature on financial literacy; 3) data from a survey of U.S. local governments’ elected officials and human resources directors; 4) insights from discussions with city managers and budget officers; and 5) recommendations for practitioners, focusing on program topic and mode, to develop programs for diverse groups and being able to assess the results.

Some of the benefits of offering a financial literacy program include: increased contributions to supplemental savings plans (51%); increased employee engagement related to compensation issues (43%); and increased employee satisfaction (41%).

The report is available here.