Financial decisions young people heavily influenced by friends, influencers and advertising

Wijzer in geldzaken is committed to making Dutch people more financially literate. Learned when young is done when old. That is why the organisation also explicitly targets children and young people.

The study reveals how teachers assess the buying behaviour and financial situation of their pupils and students, their concerns and how they involve parents and carers in financial education. It concerns teachers and educators from:

• primary education (n = 400 teachers of grade 6, 7 and 8);
• secondary education (n = 330 economic, human & social, civics and citizenship teachers)
• and mbo (n = 152 mbo citizenship teachers).

• Influence by social environment
  • PO: 78% of teachers see that (many to all) pupils want something because friends also have it.
  • VO: 74% of teachers see this in their students.
  • MBO: 69% of teachers see this in students.
• Concerns about financial temptations
  Teachers are most concerned about the influence of influencers (PO: 78%, VO: 78%, MBO: 68%), in-game purchases (53-70%), gambling advertisements (VO and MBO: 65%) and the use of after-payment methods such as AfterPay (VO: 45%, MBO: 64%).
• Signs of financial problems
  • PO: 45% of teachers see that there are students who come from families with financial problems.
  • VO: In VO, 42% of teachers see that.
  • MBO: Over half (53%) of MBO teachers see students with financial problem in class.
• Involving parents
  Especially in primary schools, teachers try to involve parents to help children learn how to manage money (35%). This is done mainly through newsletters or lesson plans. In secondary education, this is 19% and in mbo this does not happen.
• Wide support for financial education
  A large proportion of teachers (po: 76%, vo: 86% and mbo 95%) think financial education is an important classroom topic. Only 11% of mbo teachers think that students aged 18+ are sufficiently capable of making responsible financial choices.

The survey makes it clear that teachers in all education sectors believe that investing in financial education is a necessity. Structural attention in the curriculum, teacher support and parental involvement can make the difference in making children more financially resilient.