Institute Faculty Members:
Dr. Lawrence Gianinno

Research Associates:
Jeannette Belcher-Schepis | Kathleen Leonard

Helping children develop the skills to function effectively in today’s global economic world is an increasingly important challenge for parents and teachers. Children and youth must acquire an understanding of the fundamental economic concepts and behaviors needed to become self-reliant, including knowledge of spending and saving, credit and debt, career planning, entrepreneurship, and property ownership. Given the widespread absence of school curricula addressing economic and financial literacy, this challenge may be particularly difficult for immigrant parents. The research project, “Culture, Identity and Economic Socialization,” investigates the ways in which culture, ethnicity, and religion may influence the economic socialization of immigrant children, and seeks to identify family and community-related experiences that contribute to the development of effective economic values and practices. The overall program of study being undertaken is the first to systematically examine the relationship that culture, ethnicity, and religion may have in shaping the economic values and practices of children of immigrants.

According to the most recent U.S. Census, the Lebanese are among those immigrant groups that tend to adapt especially well to economic challenges. The first phase of the planned program of study, which is funded by the William T. Grant Foundation, involves research on Lebanese Muslim and Christian immigrant families who have at least one child between the ages of 8 and 14. Contingent on obtaining additional financial support, other economically successful immigrant groups will be studied as well. In the second phase, the goal is to collaborate with school teachers, curriculum specialists, and others to apply the research findings to the development and/or improvement of curricula focused on economic and financial literacy. The third and final phase of the program will seek to inform policy makers about the results of this work in order to obtain their support for legislation and funding for school and after-school programs fostering the economic skills that children and young people will need to succeed.