Financial Fragility (Lusardi, Schneider & Tufano)
Information SystemsReliability: item-level1 sample item
About this scale
A 1-item global measure of financial fragility: 'How confident are you that you could come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose within the next month?' Predicts mortgage default, withdrawal from retirement, and other financial distress outcomes.
Sample item(s)
“How confident are you that you could come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose within the next month? (1 = Certainly not; 4 = Certainly)”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: item-level. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Single-item; widely cited in household-finance research.
Source & citation
Lusardi, A., Schneider, D., & Tufano, P. (2011): Financially fragile households: Evidence and implications. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, pp. 83–134.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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