“Young people want to know how the economy works”
- Presentation of the 2009 Youth Survey: Economic Literacy and Financial Culture

6 July 2009 - “Young people want to know how the economy works,” said Manfred Weber, Chief Executive of the Association of German Banks, when presenting the 2009 Youth Survey – Economic Literacy and Financial Culture. The Association’s survey showed that three-quarters of the teenagers and young adults interviewed were interested in economic matters and around 80 % would like to see economics taught at school as a subject in its own right. “This is a remarkable result. It shows us that young people see an economic education as a basic skill they need for their future,” Mr Weber told journalists.

The Association of German Banks had long been calling for economics to be made a separate subject in the classroom. This required binding curricula and a fixed number of periods on school timetables. “For economics has to be studied systematically, just like maths or English, and not only in passing,” Mr Weber pointed out. The Association had therefore presented last year an “economic literacy concept” comprising a framework curriculum for all students from primary-school to school-leaving age as well as proposals for a bachelor’s/master’s degree in Economic Education.

Mr Weber said that action was urgently required here because, though most young people were interested in economic issues, they knew very little about the basic principles of a market economy. For example, four out of ten respondents did not associate the term “social market economy” with “anything in particular”. “That means there are still far too many young people who have no real idea of our economic system – even if three years ago the figure was six percentage points higher,” noted Mr Weber. More than half of respondents were unable to explain what an “inflation rate” was. Moreover, the level of financial literacy among the young generation was poor: nearly one in two teenagers or young adults admitted they knew hardly anything about financial matters, while six out of ten said they had little or no idea of what happened on the Stock Exchange.

At the same time, however, the survey also showed that respondents wanted more information on financial matters. Fully eight out of ten teenagers and young adults (81 %) felt that such information was important or even very important. That was five percentage points more than in 2006. “Many young people evidently have no reason and – above all – no opportunity to improve their financial literacy. Motivating them to spend more time on financial matters therefore remains an important task – not least for banks, but also for politicians at both government and federal state level,” stressed Mr Weber.

Youth Survey 2009 [PDF - 91 KB]
Economics for the classroom [PDF]

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