> Posted by Jeffrey Riecke, Communications Assistant, CFI
The majority of girls in the United States recognize the importance of money management and are interested in becoming financially empowered. But, even without perceived gender barriers, only 12 percent of girls in the country feel very confident in their ability to make financial decisions. These are some of the big takeaways from a new Girl Scouts of the USA research report, Having It All: Girls and Financial Literacy. Released this past Tuesday in coincidence with Financial Capability Week (it’s also Financial Literacy Month), the report shares findings from a nationwide survey of 1,000 girls aged 8-17 and their parents to better understand girls’ levels of financial literacy, and their attitudes and experiences with money.
The survey revealed that the majority of girls feel most knowledgeable about savings, budgeting, and paying bills, and less so about using credit and investing. On the whole, 90 percent of the surveyed indicated that it was important for them to learn how to manage their money. In spite of their stark lack of confidence, the girls expressed great optimism that they would become financially independent and successful, indicating that they would rather make their own money than have to rely on their significant other, that both household heads should manage the family’s finances, and that throughout their life they would be able to save a lot of money, and be able to retire comfortably. Little relationship between gender and money management was expressed by the respondents. 73 percent reported that men and women are equally likely to be financially responsible, and only 13 percent reported the belief that men are better with money than women. This same 13 percent was mirrored in the responses of the parents.
Financial literacy is not currently a standard component of elementary and secondary education in the United States. Supported by the survey responses, the report highlights the opportunity for parents to strengthen their children’s money management skills. For the full report, click here. As an aside, the Girl Scouts amended their merit badge program in 2011. Among new badges are the Money Manager badge and the Financing My Future badge.
Image credit: Girl Scouts
Have you read?
Takeaways from the 2012 Citi-FT Financial Education Summit
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Financial Capability: Not Many Answers, but Lots of Great Questions
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April 19, 2013 at 2:32 pm
sirajulislam1
The demographic information on the survey respondents is an area of interest that the write-up didn’t include. The research report may have that but it would be convenient should the information appear here. Anyway, vital information revealed…
April 20, 2013 at 11:40 am
John Gitau
Jeff, this is awesome and thank you for highlighting this landmark research finding. The three tips for adults are a must read for every parent.
Let me share an embarrassing episode. My undergraduate teenage daughter got a holiday job with a film company. She was paid $352 by cheque after a month’s engagement. A month later when she was back to school, I bumped onto the cheque on her desk. I asked her why she hadn’t banked the cheque, yet she had a bank account under her mum. She told me she hadn’t banked it because she didn’t have a need for the money. I asked her if she was aware that it took four days for the cheque to clear at the bank and become cash to be used. She said she didn’t know that. Yes, the daughter of a financial literacy teacher. It dawned on me that, while I was ever busy teaching other people financial literacy, I had never once taken time to teach my daughter or even her mother. I may have assumed they would learn through osmosis or financial literacy was in my daughter’s genes. Shame on me. I started teaching her from then on.
Why this report is compelling is because from experience, I have been a business judge and business plan competition judge for a Technoserve Kenya implemented Girl Effect Program that teaches financial and business literacy to teenage girls. For three years I have participated in the program, I have seen girls grow from naive teenagers to mature business ladies within short periods. Sample this: a group of five girls are given $6 each which they pool to $30 and are trained on business and made to do businesses of their choice as a group. After three months, we, judges, would visit their businesses and evaluate them against their business plans. The group that has earned and saved the highest amount is given a cash reward of $235 as capital to boost business. You won’t believe it but most of the over 700 girls( within the three years period) would have saved at least over $150 after doing business for just three months. We, judges, were touched by the teenage girls’ enthusiasm, diligence and commitment to implementing what they had learned. In one of the lunch session after judging, I joked with my fellow 10 judges that our lunch alone was enough to give capital to 16 girls. We felt ashamed to consume $10 capital for two girls each.
I support the idea of mothers being the best practical teachers of financial literacy to the girls. They are not only more available for them than fathers but they are the home finance managers. Fathers may be good teachers but they are more prone to take risks which sometimes border on financial illiteracy. The risk taking element can be left out from the girls until they are big enough to take care of their finances.
Thank you Jeff for this important post. Girl Effect information can be found at http://www.girleffect.org/starts/feature-technoserve.