Financial Behavior and Financial Access: A Latent Class Analysis

Abstract

This article examined the relationship of household financial behaviors and accesses. Using the 2015 National Financial Capability Study, the current study conducted latent class analysis of financial behaviors to identify latent classes (N = 27,564). The distribution of access was investigated among latent classes, which were regressed on the financial behaviors of financial planning and financial spending factors and other covariates using multinomial logistic regression. After controlling for other variables, the odds of being in Thinly Banked, Limited Access, and Working Families classes instead of being in Investors class decreased by 90%, 88%, and 66% for every point higher in financial planning behavior, respectively. Results suggest that desirable financial behaviors such as planning are important for consumers with the least financial access.