Project Friction

Over the past 30 years, Canadian household debt has steadily risen. More than a quarter of this is non-mortgage consumer debt. On average, Canadian's owe $1. 78 for every dollar earned. During that time, financial friction has been drastically reduced, with apps and online platforms offering on-demand and seemingly limitless access to funds and spending. Every tech product aims to be as fluid in its user experience as possible - minimising friction tends to help maximize corporate profits. Growing evidence suggests that people think about contactless transactions less than they would if they were paying cash, making it extremely easy to rack up consumer debt, often resulting in a high-interest credit cycle that becomes impossible to break. Financial decisions can be challenging. Many of us make bad decisions about when to save and when to spend. As a result, some people can improve their financial well-being by learning how to make better choices and developing habits to support financial goals; by increasing friction around spending and becoming more aware. Other people experience financial friction in a very different way. No financial literacy initiative can teach a child how not to be born into poverty. No financial literacy program can teach a person how not to suffer from a health condition which requires expensive drugs to manage. No amount of financial literacy can teach a person earning less than $30, 000 how to pay for food, rent, transportation and childcare costs for two young children. Financial difficulty can arise in so many ways. Many financial literacy programs miss the mark because they treat these difficulties as one and the same, choice over circumstance, instead of responding to specific needs and concerns. The goal of Project Friction is to provide basic, unbiased and accessible, one-on-one and group financial literacy support to youth and under-served populations at no cost.
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Keywords: financial services