Center on Business and Poverty

Financial Literacy: We are working to develop financial literacy training for low-income individuals who will watch animated videos on financial topics and afterwards take a simple eight item survey the PFW Scale to measure their learning progress. We have already designed several modules on key financial topics. This program will be made available to employers and organizations were interested in training their employees or members on ways to improve their financial situation. We hope to have this program fully developed and tested by the August of 2024 and begin using it in the fall. The PFW Scale is a reliable measurement of perceived financial distress financial well-being. It provides the user with a score which has been scientifically determined to be a valid and reliable measure of one's perceived personal financial wellness as well as measure for employees learning progress during the financial literacy programs. A recent multinational study of the validation and measurement of The PFW Scale was conducted in 7 different countries and as a result the scale is now available in 6 different languages: Dutch English Italian German Slovenian and Spanish.

Employee OwnershipCenter on Business and Poverty works to organize the International Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership. 2023 was the second year that the symposium has taken place. The aim is to bring together individuals and organizations active in employee ownership from across the world to share ideas and learning. The number of nations represented was impressive: there were at least 20 countries attending including Australia Japan Denmark Slovenia Canada the UK and the US. It was fascinating to hear the different environments in operation. Canada has recently passed legislation to introduce a form of Employee Ownership Trust EOT but their model will not benefit from the same tax advantages as we do in the US. Australia has had one company adopt the EOT which has generated some interest but no tax incentives and little progress. Many countries do have wide adoption of share schemes particularly within their larger businesses but these are often viewed as a form of remuneration rather than as an ownership stake for employees. The event was an energizing experience. Most came away pleased at what has been achieved but with a strong feeling that we can't allow ourselves to become complacent. We could be doing a lot better. There remains a general lack of awareness of employee ownership models and too many business owners find out by chance sometimes too late.