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Financial literacy is not going to be taught in schools until it appears on some standardized test. Parents need to be picking up the slack and teaching their

Financial literacy is not going to be taught in schools until it appears on some standardized test. Parents need to be picking up the slack and teaching their children these skills. For all of the helicoptering modern parents do, you'd think watching over finances would be part of it.

ynniv 16y ago
Or teaching their kids that producing or saving a dollar can be more rewarding than spending one.
- rdtsc 16y ago
  That might be a hot or controvercial subject depending what potential banking or other corporate interests it might go against. Banks might not like the fact that a new generation of consumers wants to save too much, don't want to carry a credit card ballance, don't want to buy homes with mortgages they have to pay for 30 years, would rather buy a used car with saved money instead of finanancing it and so on. As much as the media harps about "financial illiteracy" there are also industries that thrive on that illiteracy. In general whenever there is illiteracy someone will take advantage of it. In this case I think it is a multi-billion dollar business. That business will try to go against education. It could very well be that lobbyist for large financial institutions would try to influence the curriculum. It would "court" the state education systems to make sure the "right" stuff is taught in the financial literacy course. I also can see this subject be as hot as religion and politics and perhaps that is also why it is not taught.
  - ynniv 16y ago
    I should hope that parents don't consider the interests of multi-national corporations when talking with their children. I assume that you meant the curriculum of public education, but even that should (should) be driven by local opinion and not corporate interests.
Calamitous 16y ago
You erroneous assumption is that the parents know these skills at all, let alone well enough to teach them.
timwiseman 16y ago
I agree with your concept, but in practice you run into the problem that most parents are financially illiterate.
djm 16y ago
In the UK there have been attempts to do this in schools. I haven't really followed it so I don't know on what scale but it is happening. The main problem with teaching financial literacy is that you have to be literate yourself in order to teach it. Sadly, most peoples parents just don't fit the bill.

ynniv 16y ago

Or teaching their kids that producing or saving a dollar can be more rewarding than spending one.

rdtsc 16y ago
That might be a hot or controvercial subject depending what potential banking or other corporate interests it might go against. Banks might not like the fact that a new generation of consumers wants to save too much, don't want to carry a credit card ballance, don't want to buy homes with mortgages they have to pay for 30 years, would rather buy a used car with saved money instead of finanancing it and so on. As much as the media harps about "financial illiteracy" there are also industries that thrive on that illiteracy. In general whenever there is illiteracy someone will take advantage of it. In this case I think it is a multi-billion dollar business. That business will try to go against education. It could very well be that lobbyist for large financial institutions would try to influence the curriculum. It would "court" the state education systems to make sure the "right" stuff is taught in the financial literacy course. I also can see this subject be as hot as religion and politics and perhaps that is also why it is not taught.
- ynniv 16y ago
  I should hope that parents don't consider the interests of multi-national corporations when talking with their children. I assume that you meant the curriculum of public education, but even that should (should) be driven by local opinion and not corporate interests.

Calamitous 16y ago

You erroneous assumption is that the parents know these skills at all, let alone well enough to teach them.

timwiseman 16y ago

I agree with your concept, but in practice you run into the problem that most parents are financially illiterate.

djm 16y ago

In the UK there have been attempts to do this in schools. I haven't really followed it so I don't know on what scale but it is happening. The main problem with teaching financial literacy is that you have to be literate yourself in order to teach it. Sadly, most peoples parents just don't fit the bill.