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 With
today’s economic troubles, it’s important that we
teach our children how to think about money responsibly. Nonprofit
credit counseling agency Money Management International (MMI)
surveyed American kids recently, studying how kids today are
learning about finances compared to how their parents learned
and which financial learning tools kids are being exposed
to.
According to the survey, many more kids are being exposed
to some kind of financial learning—nearly five times
as many parents did not learn about money until they were
adults compared to their kids. “It’s never too early
to start teaching the next generation the financial skills
they need for life,” says Cate Williams, vice president
of financial literacy for MMI. “Being exposed to financial
education at a young age prepares youth to have financially
successful futures.”
Here’s what the report turned up:
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Kids are starting
to bank younger these days. Three times as many children
under 10 have bank accounts than their parents did when
they were that age. |
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Piggy bank popularity
is increasing. Nearly twice as many parents use the piggy
bank as a learning tool for their kids compared to how
many used it themselves as kids. |
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Kids are learning
how to raise money. Nearly 7 in 10 American kids participate
in fundraisers for their school or organization. Parents
are using these fundraisers as an opportunity to teach
financial lessons— two-thirds of parents teach financial
responsibility or basic math skills, roughly half of parents
surveyed teach goal setting or basic business skills,
and 4 in 10 use fundraisers to teach about budgeting or
charitable giving. |
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Some kids have
control over their money, others don’t. When it comes
to controlling the money kids receive, parents are roughly
evenly split on who gets to control their children’s
money—49 percent say that they either give their
children the total decision or most of the decision while
51 percent of parents say they give kids pretty free rein
or put their money directly into savings. |
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Kids
mostly spend their money on wants. Almost half (49 percent)
of parents report that their children primarily spend
their money on things they want, such as ice cream, video
games, etc. Twenty-seven percent of parents say that kids
save their money. Nearly 20 percent said their children
spend their money on things they need, like new clothing,
school supplies, etc. |
For parents or educators wanting to teach young people good
money management skills, check out moneymanagement.org.
Find helpful articles and tools in the Financial Education
section, participate in a free webinar on teaching children
about money, and visit Blogging for Change for daily financial
tips and inspiration.
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