Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work
Volume 15, Issue 2, 2018, Pages 122-135

Financial Capability and Sociodemographic Factors among Survivors of Human Trafficking (Article)

Okech D.* , McGarity S.V. , Hansen N. , Burns A.C. , Howard W.
  • a School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
  • b School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
  • c University of Georgia, College of Public Health, Athens, United States
  • d School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
  • e Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, United States

Abstract

Improving the economic well-being of the girls and women is a key to reducing re-trafficking and in providing stability that survivors can use to rebuild their lives. The study looks at how various sociodemographic traits affected the financial capability of n = 144 women and girls who received intervention at a residential care facility in Ghana, West Africa. Three domain of financial capability are assessed in this, i.e., financial risk, financial planning, and financial saving. A scaled likelihood ratio test (chi-square difference test) was used to evaluate the significance of each direct covariate effect(%). Each of the overall goodness-of-fit indices suggested that the initial CFA model fit the data well, χ2 (19, N = 144) = 31.45, p = 0.04, RMSEA = 0.067 (90% CI: 0.017–0.108), TLI = 0.923, CFI = 0.948. Older women reported lower levels of financial savings than younger women. We found that women with secondary school education or higher reported significantly higher financial risk than women with less education. Women with children reported lower levels of financial saving than women without children. Married women indicated significantly more financial saving than single women. There was a significant negative effect of time spent in trafficking conditions on financial saving, indicating the highest average level of financial savings at intervention and decreased thereafter. Programs and policies in resource-scarce contexts that aim to assist trafficking survivors must go beyond providing psychosocial counseling and focus also on economic development opportunities. © 2017 Taylor & Francis.

Author Keywords

Women financial capability economic stability sociodemographic traits Human trafficking

Index Keywords

educational status single woman high school human survivor Survivors statistics and numerical data Ghana Young Adult Humans economic development Adolescent counseling female Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics human trafficking major clinical study adult age Age Factors Child

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85039040408&doi=10.1080%2f23761407.2017.1419154&partnerID=40&md5=59359b61d9b6891b9759fbe16852c06d

DOI: 10.1080/23761407.2017.1419154
ISSN: 23761407
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English