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learn$ave Project: Final ReportTable 5.4 Initial Typology of learn$ave Savers According to Saving/Dissaving PatternsPattern of Account UseDescriptionAssociated BaselineCharacteristicsUnsuccessful /disengagedNo savings or very low savings(less than $120) and little/no dissavingStruggling Modest savings ($120-$999.99)and very high rates of dissavingMay have used learn$ave as an inadvertentoperating account ratherthan strict savings accountModerateMore savings but less than maximum($1,000 to $1,483.33 andmoderate rates of dissavingMay have had changes in circumstancethat precluded additionalsavingsEarly Quickly saved maximum ($1,500)within 18 month or less, little dissavingMay have been highly motivatedby learn$ave incentive; may havehad higher financial flexibility tomeet savings goals so earlyDeterminedSaved maximum but did so makinguse of longer saving period, littledissavingNone identified; not related tolower baseline incomes or financialconstraintsMore predominant amongCanadian-born, participants withlower level of prior education; notrelated to lower baseline incomesor observable financial constraintsMore predominant amongcanadian-born, participants withlower level of prior education; notrelated to lower baseline incomesor observable financial constraintsMore predominant among recentimmigrants to Canada and participantswith higher levels of prioreducationProportionof Participants10.6%12.7%11.8%43.0%None identified 21.9%project purposes. This stage of the program model is theoutlined box in Figure 5.7. As with any defined purposesavings account, it is important to emphasize that thelearn$ave accounts had a clear expected accumulation/saving phase and a clear expected investment phaseduring which the financial capital would be depleted. Thisperiod began no earlier than 12 months after entering theprogram (the earliest date that a participant could qualifyfor matched savings) and ended no later than 48 monthsafter entering the program (the time 12 months after thesaving period when learn$ave matched credits had to beused or forfeited).On average (Figure 5.8), at month 48 — the end ofthe saving period — participants had earned $3,077 inmatched credits, or about two-thirds (68.3 per cent)of the potential maximum of $4,500. It is important tonote that these earned credits are an average across allparticipants including the “early,” “struggling,” and allother types of savers in the project. It is also worth notingthat this figure is lower than the average credits earnedobserved at the end of the saving period ($3,267 at month36) because of dissaving (unmatched withdrawals)between months 36 and 48.Turning to credits use, by the end of the investmentperiod at month 48, participants spent $2,435, onaverage, for eligible project purposes (Table 5.5) orroughly 80 per cent of average available matched funds($3,077). An analysis of the use of learn$ave accountusage during the investment phase, however, should takeinto consideration use of own funds, as participants hadto use at least $1 of their own learn$ave savings for every$3 of matched credits used for approved purchases. Whenindividual participant own savings are imputed usingthe 3:1 match rate, we estimate an average participantat month 48 had $4,103 ($3,077 + $3,077/3) in availablefunds (disregarding approved purchases made) andinvested a minimum of $3,247 ($2,435 + $2,435/3) ineligible project goals.The trend line in earning matched credits was heavilyinfluenced by the “early” and then “determined” savers,rising steeply from 0 to 12 months and then along aflatter slope from 12 to 36 months. The trend line inmatched credits used did rise more consistently overtime after 12 months, although perhaps less steeplyand at a lower overall level than the project designersoriginally expected. 2 The sudden upturn in the averageuse of matched credits after month 46 almost certainlyreflects the last-minute efforts of participants to investavailable learn$ave funds before they expired, either oftheir own initiative or in response to reminders from casemanagers.2 Based on projections by SEDI for HRSDC’s project financial forecasting.Social Research and Demonstration Corporation Chapter 5 | 55