Financial education for kids is at the heart of everything we do, so we’re excited to share the latest CBI Economics analysis, commissioned by GoHenry and Wilson Wright, which GoHenry is taking to the Government to push for more collaboration with industry, schools, and parents to improve the nation’s financial literacy.
GoHenry has always believed that it’s important to start children’s financial education from a young age, and this new report, Paving the Way to Financial Wellbeing, reveals how financial literacy can unlock a bright and prosperous future for your child.
Related: Financial literacy for kids guide
Financial literacy is crucial because it gives us the ability and confidence to make informed financial decisions – and there’s strong evidence to show that this leads to improvements in lifelong wellbeing.
Even though financial education has been gradually incorporated into the UK education system, provision varies across the four nations – and it’s not compulsory in all primary schools.
This is why GoHenry and Wilson Wright are calling for the Government to collaborate with industry and other private sector partners to create a national strategy for financial education, provide parents and children with practical learning tools, and introduce compulsory financial literacy and management education from primary school age. This means that all children can develop the skills and knowledge they need to manage their money effectively in adulthood, regardless of their background.
The basic principles of business and entrepreneurship should also be a fundamental element of financial education, so that children can understand what it takes to manage their money and start a business
– and know that this option is open to them.
What are the benefits of financial education?
Our CBI Economics analysis reveals:*
- Prioritising financial education will add an extra £6.98 billion to the UK economy each year (£202 billion by 2050)
- Financial literacy raises early-career earnings prospects by up to 28%
- If all adults received financial education at school, an additional 76,400 businesses could be created each year, resulting in an annual increase of 123,000 direct jobs
- Adults who don’t learn about money when they are young are more likely to be unemployed, or earning less, than the national average
How to teach your child financial literacy
We believe that financial education requires collaboration. It’s not the responsibility of one person or one group, but requires collaboration between government, schools, teachers, parents / carers, families, businesses, universities and voluntary / community organisations in order for it to be effective. This is why we’ve recently joined The Centre for Financial Capability to support their push for high-quality and effective financial education from primary school age.
However, there are lots of things that parents can do to accelerate their child’s financial education, and our in-app, interactive Money Missions
are designed to help kids grasp complex subjects like earning, budgeting and saving money.
“Just like swimming, money management is a vital life skill and one best taught young – and with aids – to ensure that when Generation Alpha and Gen-Z hit adulthood they don’t sink amongst access to fast-credit and plenty of temptations. However, financial education isn’t as exciting to a child as swimming, so you need to find a way to make them want to get in the pool – to continue my analogy – and keep training.
"For real progress to be made, we need to first engage the people teaching this next generation (parents, carers and teachers) by equipping them with the right tools and knowledge to help children perfect their money skills. A collaborative approach will ensure that when they then go out into the world they've got the financial skills to stay afloat.”
Louise Hill, Co-founder and COO, GoHenry
References:
*Bullets 1, 3 & 4: GoHenry Development Economics and Censuswide (2021)Bullet 2: Returns to skills around the world: Evidence from PIAAC, Hanushek, E.A. et al (2015)
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