GUIDANCE SERVICES AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AMONG YOUNG COUPLES IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

Many young couples in Akwa Ibom State struggle with effective financial management, leading to relational stress, debt, and instability. Despite the availability of various financial strategies, a lack of financial literacy and differing priorities often result in poor financial decisions and conflict.This study employed a correlational research design to investigate the relationship between guidance services and financial management among young couples. The study was grounded in Bowen’s Family Systems Theory and Becker’s Theory of Economic Gain. A sample of 200 young couples from NsitUbium Local Government Area was selected using stratified random sampling. Data were collected using the researcher-designed "Young Couples’ Financial Management Questionnaire (YCFMQ)," which had a reliability coefficient of .76. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to analyse the data and test the four hypotheses at a .05 alpha level.The results revealed significant positive relationships between all four guidance services and young couples' financial management. Specifically, information service (r = .461), appraisal service (r = .555), and counselling service (r = .610) showed moderate positive relationships. A very strong positive relationship was found for follow-up service (r = .895).Guidance services namely information, appraisal, counselling, and follow-up are significantly related to improved financial management among young couples. This study contributes empirically by demonstrating that follow‑up services often underemphasized in marital counselling exert the strongest influence on couples’ financial behaviour. The study also integrates relational and economic frameworks to explain how counselling interventions shape financial decision‑making, offering a dual‑theoretical lens for future research.It was recommended among many others thatCounsellors and policymakers should integrate structured financial literacy, appraisal and sustained follow‑up mechanisms into premarital and marital counselling programmes to promote long‑term financial stability among young couples.