Government ‘misses chance’ to educate on debt

The comments come soon after reforms to secondary education across England and Wales were announced by the government and, while the subject of “economic wellbeing”, which includes dealing with personal debt, is set to be introduced, many personal finance experts believe that this does not go far enough.

In addition to being non-compulsory and not subject to examination, the introduction of the subject is also nothing new, having already been made part of Personal Social Health Education (PSHE).

“Standalone qualifications in personal finance have been independently proven to make a positive difference to the way in which young people make financial decisions,” said Gavin Shreeve, chief executive of the Ifs School of Finance.

“This is why we are calling on government to introduce a standalone subject in Personal Finance so that all students have the opportunity to gain what is an increasingly crucial life skill.”

According to a parliamentary bill table last month calling for stand-alone personal finance qualifications to be taken in schools, 79 per cent of consumers do not know what an APR is, proof for some of the “financial illiteracy” of many Britons, leading to many getting into debt with little knowledge of how to deal with their situation.