Why teach financial education?

Improving Financial Capability - a multi-stakeholder approach. Report of the National Steering Group on Financial Education (2009)

"Improving financial capability through education is a major undertaking. People’s abilities and needs are diverse and complex and reaching them at key points in their lives poses a huge challenge. People’s behaviour when it comes to money is influenced by many different factors:- culture, emotion, personal beliefs, knowledge and attitudes to name but a few. In particular, for adults, education is a choice – there is no obligation to engage with personal finance education. To have any chance of success, programmes must be tailored, relevant to the individual and delivered in a setting and at a time that facilitates the right kind of engagement." Improving Financial Capability - a multi-stakeholder approach. Report of the National Steering Group on Financial Education (2009). Foreword by Mary O’Dea, Consumer Director, Financial Regulator. Read more

Rationale and Aims

The European Commission has issued a useful Communication: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market... Read more

The Importance of Financial Education - OECD (2006)

"Financial education is increasingly important, and not just for investors. It is becoming essential for the average family trying to decide how to balance its budget, buy a home, fund the children’s education and ensure an income when the parents retire." OECD 2006. Read more

Financial Capability: New Evidence for Ireland (2009)

"Recent increases in financial innovation, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon banking culture, have seen a considerable growth in the amount of financial products available to the general public. Simultaneously, many workers are increasingly assuming responsibility for planning for their future pensions. This allied to increased life expectancy necessitates a greater degree of financial capability amongst the general public. This study has empirically examined this issue for the first time in an Irish context." Read more

Financial Exclusion in Ireland: An exploratory study and policy review (2006)

This exploratory study, published in 2006, examined the then emerging concept of financial exclusion in the Irish context. Given a lack of existing data on financial exclusion, the focus of the study was on the experience of financial services by low-income groups and on the views of diverse organisations on financial service provision for such groups. Read more

Identifying how literacy and numeracy difficulties act as a barrier to understanding and accessing financial services (2005)

A report identifying how literacy and numeracy difficulties act as a barrier to understanding and accessing financial services, commissioned by National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) in partnership with the Educational Building Society (EBS) in August 2005 Read more

Links and further information

O’Donnell, N. and Keeney, M. (2009) Financial Capability : New Evidence for Ireland Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland, Dublin. http://www.centralbank.ie/data/Tech... Identifying how literacy and numeracy difficulties act as a barrier to understanding and accessing financial services (2005) by Dr Pauline Conroy and Helen O’Leary was commissioned by the National Adult Literacy Agency, Dublin in partnership with the Educational Building Society. Corr, C. (2006) (...) Read more