More needs to be done to improve the nation's financial
knowledge, it has been suggested.
According to Alastair Mathews, director of policy at the
Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg), education on
monetary topics, ranging from UK personal loans and savings
accounts to budgeting and mortgages, should be delivered
over the entire duration of time that a child spends at
school. Mr Mathews reported that, "like with a lot of
learning", teaching about money should play a role in each
of the four main stages of compulsory education and be
tailored towards the specific age of the recipient.
The director stated that financial education needs to start
with young children "because attitude formation starts
quite early and, even though this is very basic - about the
use of money and keeping it safe and saving it - it all
helps to set the attitudes in the right direction". As
pupils get older, Mr Mathews reported that such guidance
should become more detailed, so that by the time they reach
the 14 to 16-year-old age bracket they already have a
certain level of awareness about fiscal matters not only
from school but also from family members and their friends.
In turn this can help them to foster a more responsible
attitude to loans, overdrafts and other financial products
and so avoid developing unmanageable money problems in
later life.
He said: "Our approach to this is to emphasise the need for
financial education. Young people, more than ever, need a
foundation of financial education while they are still at
school. We think that basic financial education should be a
core and assured part of the national curriculum."
In addition, Mr Mathews asserted that levels of debt could
be on track to fall as "there is bound to be an increase in
caution" on the part of money lenders in terms of issuing
credit. He added that borrowers are also likely to take
steps to reduce their indebtedness, whether through a
consolidation loan or otherwise, as they realise that they
are struggling to manage their money.
The Pfeg director also reported that the nation's attitude
towards finances has changed over the last few decades as
Britain has "almost officially built debt in to the system
now". Instead of the traditional mindset of saving up money
over a period of time to fund a purchase, he claimed that
more people are looking towards various forms of "easy
credit", such as a quick loan, to help them to buy
something.
If such guidance on finance was implemented into the
national curriculum, it could well be possible that more
Britons will be able to manage personal loan payments in
later life. Earlier this month, Wendy van den Hende, chief
executive of the Pfeg, reported that although a lot of
children are interested in money they need to receive
relevant teaching to help them become financially sensible
with personal loans and other economic products when they
reach adulthood. She pointed to research from the group
indicating that about two-thirds of teenagers have a lack
of understanding when it comes to loans, savings and other
financial matters.
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Abbi Rouse writes for All About Loans where visitors can
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