Young people may not be financially savvy enough

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Young people may not be financially savvy enough

Wed 12th Mar 2008

Young people are often ill-equipped for dealing with their finances when they first leave home, according to the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg).

They live in cosseted environments sheltered from financial pressures, director of policy Alastair Mathews said, and receive little in the way of financial education at school.

He warned that when students reach university, they are suddenly confronted with "a different level of managing money independently, with all sorts of demands, interests and possibilities".

Young people may believe they are good at managing money, but when faced with difficult financial situations weaknesses often show, he added.

"There are so many unexpected and new challenges once you're into university - even weekly shopping is a new challenge, if it's something you've never done before," Mr Mathews said.

The latest Future Leaders Survey found that 81 per cent of those expecting to go to university this year believed they were 'very' or 'quite' good at managing money.

Some 69 per cent claimed they would save up any spare money, while 40 per cent said they would use it to pay off debts.

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