Research commissioned by the Money Advice Service, revealed that money habits are formed by the age of seven. Yet there are no requirements on primary level schools to provide any form of Financial Education to their students.
A study carried out by the Gambling Commission found that 450,000 children in the UK, as young as age 11 are gambling weekly, illustrating that children are not getting the Financial Education they require at a pivotal moment in their cognitive development.
Society must interject to combat this relentless debt trap. Our future generations must learn how to manage their finances, be aware of the dangers associated with unsecured loans and know the importance of saving for their future.
Extensive research highlights the severity of the UK’s debt crisis:
- 2015 OECD figures show UK households are the second most indebted of the G8 nations, at 150% of net disposable income.
- Research from the Money Advice Service shows that 8.3 million people in the UK are currently living with problem debts.
- Research from Comparethemarket.com revealed that the average person in the UK owes £8000, not including mortgage debts.
- Bank of England figures show that unsecured consumer credit jumped 4.9% in 2017, and now stands at £201.5bn.
- The Office of Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) predicts unsecured household debt will reach 47% of income by 2021.
- 307,000 – the estimated number of homeless people in the UK.
Gavin Shields, CEO and Co-Founder of Yomo, comments: “We want to protect our future generations from potential poverty created by poor financial decisions and provide them with a foundation of financial knowledge.
“The government needs to intervene to help tackle this destructive debt crisis, responsible for crippling some of the most vulnerable consumers in Britain.
“Primary school pupils should receive compulsory Financial Education lessons to promote positive attitudes towards saving, encouraging a financially secure future.
“But we need your help to make a change. If you agree that our children are overexposed to debt and lack sufficient survival skills to cope financially in their adult lives, please join us in signing the Petition. Our aim is to drive as much support as possible so we can deliver the Petition to Parliament.”
Immediate Action
Financially educating our future generations is essential and a long-term strategy in combating the UK’s debt-ridden culture.
However, a more immediate solution targeted at the millennial generation, is the Yomo app.
Yomo is an influential Savings and Investments App, focused on educating and empowering young adults to take control of their finances to create not only security but wealth for their future.
The premise is simple, Yomo takes something that is often considered somewhat monotonous and complicated, and makes it simple and enjoyable.
Through a strong rewards system, along with straightforward and engaging content, Yomo gives users the knowledge and confidence they need to move from saving to investing. Since launching in December 2017, the app has already acquired more than 5,000 active UK users.
Shields further states, “Flat wages, rampant debt-driven consumerism and out-of-reach house prices make financial freedom a distant dream for most of us. But it doesn’t have to be this way. By making personal finance fun and rewarding, we can show users that debt isn’t their only option.’
The Yomo app is free to download and is available for iOS on the App Store.
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