Special report: Financial education 2013
Among nearly 13,000 respondents from 12 countries, almost half say they never received financial schooling, whether at school or university, from family or through books and media - and seven percent feel that people do not need special financial education.
Executive summary
1. School is seen most widely as the place people should get a financial education, with 76% in our survey saying financial education should be taught in schools. The demand is clearly strong given more than three-in-four reply that financial education should be taught in schools. The next most popular source for this learning is family, selected by 35% of almost 12,000 respondents, followed by financial institutions at 20% and governments at 15%.
2. However, family has been the most common source of financial education to date, with 20% of European consumers saying they received financial education from family. Next most common is “self-taught” via information online and in the press (17%), then having studied a financial subject at college or university (16%).
3. It appears financial education is increasingly being addressed at school, as under 25-year-olds in Europe are much more likely than people in older age groups to have received financial education at school. However, still only about one-in-five under 25s say they got financial education at school.
4. There are large differences between countries in Europe in the proportion getting a financial education. Austria ranks top for the share of respondents taught financial education at school. Meanwhile, Romanians standout for the high number who are self-taught about financial matters, learning via the internet, books and taking courses.
5. There is some evidence of differences in learning style between the sexes. Women are more likely than men to have received financial education from family or friends, while men are more likely to have studied finance related subjects. Interestingly, there is no significant difference for those answering that their financial education comes from working in a finance related job.
6. These findings come from a set of questions on financial education included in the ING International Survey on Mobile Banking, Social Media and Financial Behaviour. Almost 12,000 people in 12 countries in Europe were polled by Ipsos between 18 April and 15 May 2013 on behalf of ING.
Schools are the best place to learn about money, according to 76% of respondents in the ING Special Report on Financial Education 2013.
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