The survey found that roughly 15 percent of the respondents were exposed to general consumer education mandates, and that 10 percent came under financial education mandates. Over time, mandates appear to have significantly increased the fraction of individuals in a specific state taking either generic consumer education courses or courses covering household financial topics. The first of these patterns may reflect the greater likelihood that women who attended high school in the 1960s and 1970s took courses in home economics, the authors speculate. There appears to be little difference in the exposure to financial education between whites and other minorities. The self-reported savings rate also rises with education and earnings, results not surprising to economists.
Married individuals save more than singles.
And savings rates rise moderately with age. The decision to mandate, the authors find, most likely occurred because of the political activism of narrow interest groups, including consumer advocates, or from the idiosyncratic interests and concerns of legislators, rather than from the insistence of the general public.