Should all schoolchildren be taught about finance? Photograph: Sarah Lee
If you were 15 years old, would you care about the credit crunch, the Northern Rock crisis and what's going on with mortgage rates?
You might think not, but it turns out that some teenagers actually do care.
I recently sat in on a class of 15- and 16-year-olds who are taking a GCSE equivalent in personal finance. They know about things like the difference between an APR and an AER and that Nationwide is the only bank or building society that doesn't charge you for using your debit card on holiday.
Teaching personal finance in schools isn't compulsory but this particular class knows its stuff because it has a good teacher who thinks learning about money is important.
Today, the government said it was spending around £6m on a new initiative called Young people and money to help educate young people who left school at 16 and don't have any employment about spending and saving. The aim of the scheme is to offer "youth intermediaries" (such as youth group leaders) free financial training, which they in turn can pass on to teenagers and young adults.
One of the speakers at the launch said:
In my experience of working with young people, helping them to take more responsibility for their money is the only way we will all be able to head off a serious debt crisis for today's young people tomorrow. It makes you wonder if an initiative like 'Young People and Money' had been around 10 years ago, whether there would be so much doom and gloom in the money stories in the media today.
The scheme aims to reach 200,000 young people. It's a commendable start, and, if delivered correctly, could help young adults prepare better for the future. But wouldn't it also be worthwhile for the government to either train more teachers specifically on personal finance education (as well as youth group leaders) so that they can teach the same lessons in the classroom too, or even make personal finance education compulsory?
· This article was amended on Tuesday April 1 2008. We originally said in the blog above that the Government said it was spending around £12m on the Young people and money initiative. The correct figure is in fact £6m. This has been corrected.
