London Institute of Banking & Finance

Building financial resilience for a brighter future

Whether you call it financial education, financial literacy or financial capability, the take-home message is that children and young people need to learn how to manage money – and they know it! The Young Persons Money Index, which we published in November 2019, revealed that 69% of secondary school students regularly worry about money. Among 17 and 18-year-olds, that figure rises to 82%. This is likely to increase even further as the economic impact of Covid-19 becomes clearer.

Financial distress and health

Sadly, many Britons are not managing their finances well. In January this year, the Money & Pensions Service reported that in the UK:

• 5 million people have less than £100 in savings to fall back on
• 9 million often use credit to pay for food or essential bills, and
• 22 million don’t know enough to plan for their retirement.

Now, more than ever before, we have a duty to invest in financial education for the next generation and help build financial resilience in our young people.

We know that being able to manage money well is an essential life skill. Financial knowledge not only helps individuals to manage their day-to-day lives successfully, but also to achieve their aspirations while avoiding some of the pitfalls – such as building up unsustainable levels of debt or buying unsuitable products.

Being financially literate is incredibly important for mental health. Aside from the negative impacts for day-to-day living, getting into debt and worrying about money are known to have a highly detrimental impact on mental wellbeing.

Building financial confidence

If you’re an educator looking for some fun and stimulating activities for secondary school students, why not download our free financial education resources?

The first topic covers types of income, tax, national insurance and payslips. Topic 2 is about savings, the different kinds of account and how interest is calculated before Topic 3 moves on to borrowing and debt. These are the topics that we know young people want to learn about, because we asked them in our The Young Persons Money Index!

Each topic ends with activities and suggestions on how to explore the subject further.

Financial education for LiFE

Are you a teacher who would like to incorporate financial education in your lessons, but don’t have the teaching time?

Lessons in Financial Education (LiFE) is an online, affordable study programme using animation, games and music to make learning about finance fun and accessible. No teaching time is required. Students can do the programme themselves and it can lead to a GCSE equivalent (although it doesn’t have to).

LiFE has helped hundreds of thousands of students around the UK become financially confident – and it could help yours too.