Making the Case for Financial Literacy
A collection of personal finance statistics gathered from other sources.
A collection of personal finance statistics gathered from other sources.
Financial Literacy Education
Adults and Parents:
1. The sixth annual Financial Literacy Survey of adults, conducted in 2012 on behalf of the National
Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association revealed
that:
· Two in five U.S. adults gave themselves a C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finance.
· 56% admit that they do not have a budget.
· One-third, or more than 77 million Americans, do not pay all of their bills on time.
· 39% carry credit card debt over from month to month.
· Two in five adults indicated that they are now saving less than they were one year ago and 39% do not
have any non-retirement savings.
· 25% of those who do not currently have non-retirement savings indicated that, if they did begin to
save, they would keep their savings at home in cash.
· More than one in ten (13%), or about 30.5 million Americans, typically use prepaid debit cards to pay
for everyday transactions such as groceries, gas, dining out, paying bills, and shopping online.
· 78% of adults who use prepaid debit cards for everyday transactions say they use them because they
are convenient.
· 74% use prepaid cards because they feel the cards are safer than carrying cash.
· 72% utilize prepaid cards because it allows them not to overspend or spend money they don’t have.
· 56% find that the cards enable them to better manage their money.
[National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Inc., Financial Literacy Survey Exposes Significant Gaps In Grasp Of Personal Finance Skills, April 2012, http://www.nfcc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/SIGNIFICANT_GAPS.cfm]
2. DoughMain’s 2012 survey of parents revealed that:
· 81% of parents feel it is their responsibility to teach their kids about money and savings.
· 63% of kids 18 and under have savings accounts, and 73% of those savings accounts were started
before the age of three.
· 43% of parents review bank statements with their kids monthly.
· 51% of parents give their children allowance, but only 4% require them to deposit that money into a
bank account.
· Only 28% of children have used online banking to view their savings account balance.
· Only 38% of parents are matching their children’s savings.
· Only 30% of children give some of their savings regularly to charity.
· For children without savings accounts, their money is most frequently saved in a piggy bank,
bonds/CDs, or checking accounts.
[DoughMain, Study Reveals Need for Tools to Help Parents Teach Kids About Savings, February 17, 2012,
http://www.doughmain.com/odmpublic/includes/footer/about/docs/Help%20Parents%20Teach%20Kids%20About%20Savings.pdf]
3. The College Savings Foundation’s 2010 “The State of College Savings” survey of parents revealed that:
· 65% of parents are saving for their children’s college education, up from 59% last year. Conversely, the
number of parents who weren’t saving at all has fallen to 35% this year, down from 41% in 2009.
· 76% of all respondents said that they take the time to teach their children how to be financially literate.
Nearly all – 90% – said that they believe there is a need to teach financial literacy to children as part of the
school curriculum. Of those parents, 82% said that they believed that school districts should be required to offer
a multi‐grade integrated financial literacy curriculum.
[College Savings Foundation, Parents Shift Behavior to Save More for Their Children’s College Education, Says College
Savings Foundation Survey, August 25, 2010.
http://www.collegesavingsfoundation.org/pdf/2010CSFStateofCollegeSavingsPR8-25-10.pdf]
Adults and Parents:
1. The sixth annual Financial Literacy Survey of adults, conducted in 2012 on behalf of the National
Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association revealed
that:
· Two in five U.S. adults gave themselves a C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finance.
· 56% admit that they do not have a budget.
· One-third, or more than 77 million Americans, do not pay all of their bills on time.
· 39% carry credit card debt over from month to month.
· Two in five adults indicated that they are now saving less than they were one year ago and 39% do not
have any non-retirement savings.
· 25% of those who do not currently have non-retirement savings indicated that, if they did begin to
save, they would keep their savings at home in cash.
· More than one in ten (13%), or about 30.5 million Americans, typically use prepaid debit cards to pay
for everyday transactions such as groceries, gas, dining out, paying bills, and shopping online.
· 78% of adults who use prepaid debit cards for everyday transactions say they use them because they
are convenient.
· 74% use prepaid cards because they feel the cards are safer than carrying cash.
· 72% utilize prepaid cards because it allows them not to overspend or spend money they don’t have.
· 56% find that the cards enable them to better manage their money.
[National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Inc., Financial Literacy Survey Exposes Significant Gaps In Grasp Of Personal Finance Skills, April 2012, http://www.nfcc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/SIGNIFICANT_GAPS.cfm]
2. DoughMain’s 2012 survey of parents revealed that:
· 81% of parents feel it is their responsibility to teach their kids about money and savings.
· 63% of kids 18 and under have savings accounts, and 73% of those savings accounts were started
before the age of three.
· 43% of parents review bank statements with their kids monthly.
· 51% of parents give their children allowance, but only 4% require them to deposit that money into a
bank account.
· Only 28% of children have used online banking to view their savings account balance.
· Only 38% of parents are matching their children’s savings.
· Only 30% of children give some of their savings regularly to charity.
· For children without savings accounts, their money is most frequently saved in a piggy bank,
bonds/CDs, or checking accounts.
[DoughMain, Study Reveals Need for Tools to Help Parents Teach Kids About Savings, February 17, 2012,
http://www.doughmain.com/odmpublic/includes/footer/about/docs/Help%20Parents%20Teach%20Kids%20About%20Savings.pdf]
3. The College Savings Foundation’s 2010 “The State of College Savings” survey of parents revealed that:
· 65% of parents are saving for their children’s college education, up from 59% last year. Conversely, the
number of parents who weren’t saving at all has fallen to 35% this year, down from 41% in 2009.
· 76% of all respondents said that they take the time to teach their children how to be financially literate.
Nearly all – 90% – said that they believe there is a need to teach financial literacy to children as part of the
school curriculum. Of those parents, 82% said that they believed that school districts should be required to offer
a multi‐grade integrated financial literacy curriculum.
[College Savings Foundation, Parents Shift Behavior to Save More for Their Children’s College Education, Says College
Savings Foundation Survey, August 25, 2010.
http://www.collegesavingsfoundation.org/pdf/2010CSFStateofCollegeSavingsPR8-25-10.pdf]
