A recent U.S. News and World Report article suggests that these measures may not be enough to save future generations from financial illiteracy. According to the article, the answer lies in introducing young children, using age-based teaching methods, to the concept of saving and progressing to more complex topics as they grow older. These lessons should take place in the classroom and at home. According to the article, the growing role of technology should make this easier.
The article describes examples of conceptual and experimental teaching methods, including:
- instilling fundamental financial values in elementary school-aged children by using apps that require users as young as age seven to make saving, spending, donating, and investment decisions;
- leveraging students’ interest in money by teaching financial topics in traditional classes like social studies, science, and math (e.g., assigning a project requiring students to build a community garden or improve air quality with private and public financing); and
- providing a practical experience, such as parents giving children a bimonthly allowance on a prepaid card linked to an online budgeting tool and requiring them to pay some of their own expenses when they reach high school.
