Financial education is essential for all areas of life. It refers to the set of skills and knowledge that allow make sound financial decisionsmake rational use of credit, guarantee savings and avoid indebtedness long-term. However, despite its importance, a high percentage of the population admits that they do not have the necessary training to manage their personal finances correctly.
According to the latest edition of the European Consumer Payments Report of Intrum, one in four Spaniards (24%) believe that you have not received enough financial education to manage your finances and often needs outside advice. For their part, 17% of those surveyed indicate that, although they did receive sufficient financial knowledge to understand basic economic concepts, it has been insufficient to understand the challenges of recent years, such as the impact of inflation.
These figures reveal the importance of beginning to work on financial education from an early age, becoming a fundamental pillar both in educational centers and in homes. Especially if one takes into account that, as the study by the credit and asset management services firm shows, one in three Spanish parents claims to be dedicating now less time helping their children understand economic terms and principles of financial management.
Financial education workshops
Conscious of this need, intrum continues to promote financial education among society andfor this, this 2023 has resumed its program of financial education workshops for young people in 3rd and 4th year of ESO and 1st year of Baccalaureate.
“These sessions, integrated into our global sustainability project, are intended for young people to understand, with examples from their day to day, the importance of managing money efficiently, providing them with the tools and knowledge necessary to make responsible decisions. . Financial education is key to integrating sustainability into economic decisions and, therefore, we will continue working to promote the change in habits that this transformation requires”indicates Víctor González, director of sustainability of Intrum Spain.
The program started last January 31 at the San Juan Evangelista School in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid). in session, 52 young people from 4th ESO They discovered aspects such as responsible money management, the importance of saving and the consequences derived from bad economic behaviors, such as compulsive online purchases, online betting or investing in cryptocurrencies, the incidence of which has grown in these age ranges.
The next workshop took place on February 10 at the Colegio Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, in the Madrid neighborhood of Carabanchel, where the company shared its financial content program with 50 students, also in the 4th year of ESO. The objective is to continue with these conferences throughout 2023, taking them to other educational centers throughout Spain.
The initiative is also complemented by the delivery to student groups of the ‘Financial Education Guide. economy for young people‘, developed by Intrum and which the company has made available to all educational centers that want to develop this financial education module among their students. It is an interactive document with the contents of the workshops, in which the company seeks to help students between the ages of 13 and 16 to understand, through educational content adapted to their day-to-day life, the importance of efficient management of finances and the risks of not paying attention to it.
Initiatives of this type represent a further step in the search for a society more committed to sustainable spending and responsible management of the household economy. Young people are the future of society and their status as incipient consumers makes it necessary for them to understand, before becoming financially independent, the importance of managing their money correctly.
