Youth financial literacy is something we focus on all year round

One week every year, the importance of ensuring that young people are “financially aware and are gradually acquiring financial knowledge” is in focus all over the world. The initiative, driven by the OECD, is called Global Money Week, 20-26 March, and since its start in 2012, 176 countries have participated, encompassing 53 million children and young people.  

At Nordea, financial literacy is on our radar this week and every week. One of the major focus areas within our community engagement is supporting people in building financial skills – not only having specific knowledge and skills, but also having the confidence to make decisions to achieve financial well-being. When people manage their own finances well, they contribute to a secure future for themselves and stable economies.

This strong correlation is reflected in our new survey, The Nordic Pulse, where we ask people how well they feel they are in control of their own economic situation, if they feel they have the skills to manage it, and how optimistic they are about their future.

"Everyone should have basic financial skills for life. We know that knowing how to budget, save and manage debt enables us to make better financial decisions. It’s essential to start discussing the importance of financial skills already at a young age – and in our financial skills programme we’ve found that young people and even children are very interested in learning these skills", says our Head of Community Engagement, Anna Kosonen.