These days, our children seem to have the need for every modern gadget on offer. For the younger ones of our generations, game consoles and mobile phones are now often considered everyday essentials and their cost of purchase has become a negotiation between parent and child rather than a budgeting equation. With the desire to own so many of these items, the question has to be asked, how well have our children learnt the lessons of the recession? Have they experienced the harsh realities of the credit crunch enough to equip themselves with the right financial know how, to budget for their own better future?
And the issue isn’t just about whether they’re taking responsibility to earn through household chores or weekend jobs, but to question their understanding of the importance of making their money work best for them.
Nationwide and the Personal Finance Education Group confirm 69% of parents questioned are concerned about their children’s ability to understand their finances – a 7% rise in the number of parents concerned about this issue two years ago.
And although the consensus is that the responsibility to teach these lessons are down to the parents just as much as the schools – the worrying factor is that those parents asked, admitted, they’re not sure they can!
I wonder if these admissions don’t just come from a lack of understanding of maths and finance, but also, from a fear of recognition to admit to their children, the experiences of debt and recovery they have gone through during these hard times.
So, how do we deal with this? Is this something parents and schools could be working on together, rather than separately? Could it be that money management classes can be held after school hours for parents and children to do together? Therefore, not only serving as a finance lesson for both, but acting as a modern day family activity which unites the unit as one, and makes it clear that everyone is working towards the same goal, regardless of their age.
So….what do you think? Is this something we could be campaigning for to schools across the country? Let me know what you think here.
