Final report on the scientific evaluation of the pilot project “Geldwert – Wertvoll”

Authors: Katharina Felbermayr, Theresa Lorenz
Year: 2025

The pilot project “Geldwert – Wertvoll”, conducted in cooperation with the Oesterreichische National bank (OeNB), the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (Ministry of Social Affairs) and the Office of the Lower Austrian Provincial Government, aims introduce young children to financial, consumer and value education. To achieve this, a newly developed educational program was tested and scientifically evaluated in kindergartens over the course of one year, starting in autumn 2023.

A total of 18 Lower Austrian kindergartens in the district of Bruck an der Leitha (Lower Austria) participated in the project. In the study we investigated (1) the extent to which the project's target groups became more aware of financial, consumer and value education; (2) how the educational materials were evaluated and (3) what recommendations can be derived for a possible broader rollout based on the findings of the pilot project.

To answer the research questions, we used a sequential mixed-methods evaluation design, combining qualitative focus groups and quantitative surveys. The results show that all three target groups (teachers, parents, children) developed greater awareness of the project topics on financial and consumer education. The project as a whole and the educational materials in particular received very positive feedback. There is room for improvement in terms of the amount of time teachers need to spend on project. Additional support for teachers—such as online training sessions and materials requiring less preparation time—could enhance implementation. Overall, based on the evaluation results, we recommend a broader rollout of the project, taking into account the suggested refinements outlined in the report.

The publication is only available in German and can be found as PDF and HTML.