Political parties announce policies requiring financial literacy to be taught in schools

Labour has announced a financial skills in schools policy that would require financial literacy to be taught at all levels in all schools by 2025, if Labour are re-elected.

Labour leader and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said

“We know that our young people, to set them up for success, we need to make sure they understand the basics of budgeting, they need to understand basic financial concepts, they need to understand how to be good with money, they need to understand things like interest rates, KiwiSaver, insurance, debt, borrowing."

"We want to make sure they’re learning those core skills while they are at school, because we know that that's going to set them up well for a prosperous life beyond school.”

National Party deputy Leader Nicola Willis has said that, if elected, a National-led government would also make financial literacy compulsory in schools.

With both major parties backing the proposal, it is likely to become Government policy, regardless of the results of the election.

We share a view that poor financial literacy is a problem – as many acknowledge. Yet it is not clear to us how successful schools can be in addressing the issue. One is that skills taught in school tend not to be retained unless they are something that children have a particular interest in. Understanding prices, money, borrowing and saving, are likely to be useful at an earlier stage, for example, than insurance and home loans. As with all curriculum changes, making it relevant and balancing it against other educational needs is something that requires careful consideration.