Majority of UK Adults Received No Financial Education in School, as Many Struggle to Manage Household Finances

Almost three quarters (73%) of UK adults did not receive any education on money during their time at school, despite more than two thirds (68%) saying they would have benefited from it.

According to research by credit app, ClearScore, conducted in partnership with The Money Charity, the UK’s financial capability charity, a lack of financial education during school years has had a negative impact on people’s financial decision making later in life. Fourteen percent of adults surveyed said that their ability to manage household finances, and their ability to look after their family, has been affected.

Despite financial education being added to the curriculum in 2014, the research has found that 58% of 18-24 year olds claim they never received any education on money at school, suggesting that more needs to be done to equip schools and teachers to deliver this effectively.

Nearly one in eight (13%) of adults said their lack of financial literacy has also affected their ability to borrow money. This is particularly concerning as almost a third (29%) said their biggest source of financial stress is paying off debts, equivalent to 10.87 million adults.

The lack of confidence extends to more than one in ten (11%) who are either not confident, or often feel uncertain, about managing their money. Not only does this impact their own confidence, but also has a generational knock on impact, with 13% of adults saying they would not feel confident offering support to children on money matters. Just four in 10 (43%) would feel confident giving information on simple day-to-day money matters but nothing complex. Women are more likely to be affected by this, with just 39% claiming to be confident in managing their finances.

Of those that said they would have benefited from receiving more financial education in school, the top three subjects that they would have replaced include RE (38%), music and drama (27%) and PE (27%).

Justin Basini, Co-founder and CEO of ClearScore, said: “Understanding how to manage your money is such a core life skill that it seems a massive missed opportunity not to set children up with basic knowledge of personal finances. The knock-on effects are huge, with people getting into financial difficulties that sometimes easily could have been avoided.”

Michelle Highman, Chief Executive of The Money Charity commented: “A lack of financial education should not hold anyone in society back, which is why we work with schools, community groups and employers to help fill the void left by the curriculum. We deliver interactive and engaging Financial Education & Wellbeing workshops to people of all ages across the UK. Our vision is that everyone achieves Financial Wellbeing by managing their money well, and ultimately lead happier and more positive lives as a result.”

When asked what factor had the biggest impact on how people managed their money, friends and family scored the highest (40%), almost double the amount of people that said banks and personal finance companies (24%).

At the other end of the spectrum, people were most wary of getting money advice from celebrity influencers (25%), although 1 in 10 did still say that social media was where they preferred to learn about money. Younger people in particular are more likely to be turning towards social media and influencers, with 13% of 18-24 year olds compared with 6% of 35-44 year olds claiming that celebrities and influencers have the biggest impact on how they manage their money. The formats that were most favoured by adults to educate themselves were articles, blogs and books (17%), one-to-one consultations (12%) and financial apps (11%).

Justin Basini, added: “At ClearScore, we want to empower, educate and save people money. We’re therefore investing in new coaching content, primarily video, that will be coming to our users this Autumn. This will help fill the knowledge gaps we have identified, allowing users to make more informed decisions.”