According to a study published by the Banque de France, 80% of French people believe that financial education is necessary from school. Which is not the case regrets Caroline Ménager, co-founder of Pixpay, payment solution with educational benefits for adolescents (from 10 years old).
Our children have certain deficiencies that will potentially penalize them throughout their lives.. A collective awareness of public authorities, families and businesses, must intervene to correct this as quickly as possible. Awareness that financial education is a subject and deserves to be taught is slowly emerging among politicians and civil society.. The proof is : the OECD considers financial education an essential life skill. Aware of the impact of financial education deficiencies on the national economy, Michel Sapin, then Minister of Economy and Finance, entrusted the Banque de France in 2017 with the implementation of a budgetary and financial education strategy, continued by Bruno Le Maire. The objective ? Allow each citizen to benefit from “the essential keys to the success of [son] personal project, of [son] business, or simply to better manage [son] daily budget while avoiding financial difficulties ». But the actions undertaken are still too limited and above all benefit from too little visibility and impact. (training of only 4,000 teachers in financial education in 2019, test of a financial education passport for 4th grade in particular). In the absence of a well-identified and compulsory school subject, financial education still relies exclusively on the appetite of teachers on the subject. And suffice to say that this appetite is not legion.
Parents to raise awareness and involve
It is not reasonable to leave financial education in the sole hands of public authorities and national education. This subject must be taken care of by parents, but with the right tools and without adding additional pressure to a daily life that already has no shortage of subjects for anxiety ! Some simple tips to implement. Talking about money with children, and this from 7 years old. Indeed, children who live in families where money is talked about develop better financial skills (understanding the value of money, ability to save...). Give them regular pocket money from the age of 11 to familiarize them with budget management. Equip your teenager with a payment card.
Teenagers to be empowered
This may seem like heresy to some parents who will be persuaded to bring their teenager into a capitalist and digitalized society.. Let's stop the gazelle's modesty : 95% of adolescents have money regularly, and spend it in cash, it's the best way to not understand what you're spending and where. With a budget management application, on the contrary, the adolescent can learn to save, understand the CO2 impact of your transactions, analyze your monthly expenses… with the very reassuring support of your parents. With these few simple tips, parents can already reassure themselves that their teenager will master the basics of managing a budget !
