CII research shows 94 per cent of public believe financial education in schools is necessary

12 December 2011

78% believe people's knowledge of financial matters is poor 94% believe people should take more responsibility for financial planning

Ahead of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People publishing its report today, research from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) shows overwhelming public support (94%) for financial education to be taught in schools.

The survey, the third since 2004, showed public attitudes have remained almost consistent since the last survey in 2008, when 96% of the respondents said that people should take more responsibility for their financial planning and that financial education should form part of the national curriculum (95%). There was a marked change in the public response to both questions compared to the same survey in 2004, when 85% said people should take more responsibility for their own financial planning and 75% felt that financial education should form part of the curriculum.

Daniel Pedley, public affairs manager – CII, commented: "This survey shows a strong public belief that people should take more responsibility for their own financial planning. We believe the recession and subsequent austerity have been influential in creating this attitude; it's also underpinned by a long term switch in responsibility moving from the State to the individual, as highlighted in the latest British Attitudes Survey.

"While the public appears to feel that individuals should take more responsibility for their own financial planning, the public also seems to feel inadequately equipped to do so - 78% say that people's knowledge of financial matters in the UK is generally poor.

"One possible way to improve financial education is to incorporate financial education into the national curriculum. The public response to this was overwhelmingly positive with 94% agreeing with the proposal, even though this will only equip the coming generation better to plan their finances this is an important first step in the life-long learning required.

"We understand the national curriculum is already busy; that additional training will be required for this subject to be taught effectively in schools and the time and cost it will take to instigate this. The CII has already developed the Discover Risk and Discover Fortune programmes which offer free educational events for 16-18 year olds in schools – where we bring qualified practitioners into the classroom to share their expertise with students – and we'll continue to support schools with these award-winning programmes, free of charge, until financial education becomes a core part of structured teaching in schools."

A copy of the CII report 'Financial Capability – State of the Nation' can be found on the CII website at:
www.knowledge.cii.co.uk/system/files/Financial_Capability_2011_Formatted_VF.pdf

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