Hope, Mattering, and Pathways Towards Economic Agency among Financially Marginalized Adults

Growing inequality and wealth depletion characterize the past three decades of life in the United States. In response, social work scholars developed financial capability and asset building interventions that account for structural market inequality. Yet, important constructs of hope (a sense of ag...

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Main Authors: Amy Castro, Chenyi Ma, Claudette Grinnell Davis, Meagan Cusack
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Social Work & Society 2022-01-01
Series:Social Work and Society
Subjects:
Online Access:http://132.195.130.183/index.php/sws/article/view/1663
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author Amy Castro
Chenyi Ma
Claudette Grinnell Davis
Meagan Cusack
author_facet Amy Castro
Chenyi Ma
Claudette Grinnell Davis
Meagan Cusack
author_sort Amy Castro
collection DOAJ
description Growing inequality and wealth depletion characterize the past three decades of life in the United States. In response, social work scholars developed financial capability and asset building interventions that account for structural market inequality. Yet, important constructs of hope (a sense of agency in the face of uncertainty) and mattering (awareness, importance, and reliance) may be missing from financial interventions. We employ a human capability approach for testing these assertions among 140 low-income adults participating in an economic mobility intervention. Bivariate simple regressions and multivariate sequential regressions assess the relationships between economic agency, mattering, religiosity and spirituality, and hope. Findings indicate that only reliance (the degree to which others voluntarily trust us) is associated with economic agency, suggesting that in a market where pathways out of poverty continue shrinking, meaningful human connection and relational vulnerability can return a measure of agency, humanity, and self-determination despite extreme market duress.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1613-8953
language English
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher Social Work & Society
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series Social Work and Society
spelling doaj-art-4dd1af171d1d4b98b3f771e3b75822bb2025-08-20T03:58:32ZengSocial Work & SocietySocial Work and Society1613-89532022-01-01192Hope, Mattering, and Pathways Towards Economic Agency among Financially Marginalized AdultsAmy CastroChenyi MaClaudette Grinnell DavisMeagan Cusack Growing inequality and wealth depletion characterize the past three decades of life in the United States. In response, social work scholars developed financial capability and asset building interventions that account for structural market inequality. Yet, important constructs of hope (a sense of agency in the face of uncertainty) and mattering (awareness, importance, and reliance) may be missing from financial interventions. We employ a human capability approach for testing these assertions among 140 low-income adults participating in an economic mobility intervention. Bivariate simple regressions and multivariate sequential regressions assess the relationships between economic agency, mattering, religiosity and spirituality, and hope. Findings indicate that only reliance (the degree to which others voluntarily trust us) is associated with economic agency, suggesting that in a market where pathways out of poverty continue shrinking, meaningful human connection and relational vulnerability can return a measure of agency, humanity, and self-determination despite extreme market duress. http://132.195.130.183/index.php/sws/article/view/1663HopeMatteringEconomic MobilityFinancial CapabilityInequality
spellingShingle Amy Castro
Chenyi Ma
Claudette Grinnell Davis
Meagan Cusack
Hope, Mattering, and Pathways Towards Economic Agency among Financially Marginalized Adults
Social Work and Society
Hope
Mattering
Economic Mobility
Financial Capability
Inequality
title Hope, Mattering, and Pathways Towards Economic Agency among Financially Marginalized Adults
title_full Hope, Mattering, and Pathways Towards Economic Agency among Financially Marginalized Adults
title_fullStr Hope, Mattering, and Pathways Towards Economic Agency among Financially Marginalized Adults
title_full_unstemmed Hope, Mattering, and Pathways Towards Economic Agency among Financially Marginalized Adults
title_short Hope, Mattering, and Pathways Towards Economic Agency among Financially Marginalized Adults
title_sort hope mattering and pathways towards economic agency among financially marginalized adults
topic Hope
Mattering
Economic Mobility
Financial Capability
Inequality
url http://132.195.130.183/index.php/sws/article/view/1663
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AT chenyima hopematteringandpathwaystowardseconomicagencyamongfinanciallymarginalizedadults
AT claudettegrinnelldavis hopematteringandpathwaystowardseconomicagencyamongfinanciallymarginalizedadults
AT meagancusack hopematteringandpathwaystowardseconomicagencyamongfinanciallymarginalizedadults