Financial Resilience, Financial Ignorance, and their impact on financial well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Brazil

This study aims to introduce a measure of Financial Resilience for evaluating its influence on financial well-being amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial Resilience, in this context, pertains to an individual's capacity to adapt, cope, and financially recover in the face of the new challenges posed by an economic downturn. We conducted a survey among 591 Brazilian citizens in 2021 and employed Structural Equation Modeling to examine the relationships between various constructs and validate our proposed measure of Financial Resilience. Our findings reveal a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Financial Resilience, resulting in heightened uncertainty and insecurity concerning individuals' financial future during this period. Notably, those with lower Financial Resilience were found to be the most financially vulnerable during the pandemic. These results provide valuable insights into the measurement of financial contingencies faced by the population and can be useful to policy and governmental strategies aimed at mitigating the social, economic, and financial repercussions of economic downturns. Fostering Financial Resilience and reducing vulnerability among lower-income individuals are critical objectives, particularly in times of economic uncertainty. While the concept of Financial Resilience is of paramount importance, the literature on this subject remains relatively nascent, with ongoing developments in measurement instruments. In this regard, our study contributes by proposing a concise measure of Financial Resilience through two simple questions.