subject: Educating Children On Debt [print this page] There has been much debate in recent months about the importance of money management education in schools and even nurseries. Most notably, the UK Government made a surprising U-Turn on its decision to make such classes compulsory in the UK, as part of the National Curriculum, for all children aged 5 and over. The U-Turn, which was announced just before the 2010 General Election, means that money management education still eludes most UK school children. This has been the case for generations.
It comes as no surprise then that the UK has a personal debt problem. In the UK, there are more credit cards than there are people and with the lack of money management education in schools should be surprised that so many of us are in debt?
The experts don't seem to think so. Finance and education experts were united when campaigning for personal finance classes. Both believe that there is a strong link between poor financial education and poor money management skills during adult life.
Fundamental skills such as money management should be taught to children from an early age so they can call on them in adult life. Our schools teach children about reading and writing, scientific principles, historical records and cities around the world. But when it comes to fundamental skills that are used on a day to day basis schools in the UK fall well short. The majority of adults use money management skills throughout their day and learning how to deal with debt and budget is an essential skill for anyone to learn.
Our society promotes the 'buy now, pay later' culture that was started by the retail industry, providing easy access to overdrafts, credit cards and other forms of expensive borrowing. Without education about the pitfalls of poor money management young people will begin to face financial problems with no knowledge of how to resolve them. Until we rectify this, experts from multiple industries agree that the personal debt problem of the UK will not be resolved anytime soon.
by: Deb Teller.
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