Perspectives and experiences on developing national financial education strategies

Monique Cohen; Lemmy Manje; Juliet Munro; Shaun Mundy

doi:10.3362/1755-1986.2013.019

Perspectives and experiences on developing national financial education strategies

Monique Cohen | Lemmy Manje | Juliet Munro | Shaun Mundy

There is increasing recognition – among central banks, other financial services regulators, governments, financial institutions, NGOs, educators, and international donors – that the ability to manage one's personal and household finances well is an essential life skill. Financial education can help to give people the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage their money well. Financial education is likely to be an important component of successful initiatives to promote financial inclusion; and it can contribute to the securing of financial consumer protection. Many developed and developing countries have drawn up, or are drawing up, national strategies on financial education. Generally, this work is being led by the central bank, or by another government agency, and is a collaborative exercise involving a wide range of stakeholders. This paper describes common features of the processes for developing and implementing a national strategy on financial education and summarizes the typical contents of these strategies. In doing so, it makes recommendations on good practices – and on some traps to avoid.

ASIC (2011) National Financial Literacy Strategy for Australia, Australia: Government Financial Literacy Board.

Askari, A. (2010) Banks and Financial Education, Integrating Practice, Products, and Partnerships, working paper, San Francisco: Bank of San Francisco.

Bank of Zambia (2011) National Strategy on Financial Education for Zambia, December 2011, Lusaka, Zambia: Bank of Zambia.

Bernheim, D., Garrett, D. and Maki, D. (2001) ‘Education and saving: the long-term effects of high school financial curriculum mandates’, Journal of Public Economics 80: 435-465 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2727(00)00120-1≯.

Cole, S., Sampson, T. and Zia, B. (2011) ‘Prices or knowledge? What drives demand for financial services in emerging markets?’ HBS Working Papers 09-11, The Journal of Finance 66: 1933-67 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2011.01696.x≯.

Grifoni, A. and Messy, F. (2012) ‘Current status of national strategies for financial education: a comparative analysis and relevant practices’, OECD Working Papers in Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions, No. 16, Paris: OECD Publishing.

Lusardi, A. (2009) ‘Household savings behavior in the United States: the role of literacy, information and financial education programs’, in C. Foote, L. Goette and S. Meier (eds), Policymaking Insights from Behavioural Economics, pp. 109-149, Boston, MA: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Mundy, S. (2011) ‘Financial capability’: Why is it important and how can it be improved? Reading, UK: CfBT Education Trust.

OECD (2010a) Guide to Evaluating Financial Education Programmes, Paris: OCED.

OCED (2010b) Detailed Guide to Evaluating Financial Education Programmes, Paris: OCED.

OECD (2012a) INFE High-Level Principles for the Evaluation of Financial Education Programmes, Paris: OECD.

OCED (2012b) ‘Current status of national strategies for financial education’, OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions No. 16, Paris: OECD Publishing.

OECD INFE (2011) ‘Measuring financial literacy: core questionnaire’, in Measuring Financial Literacy: Questionnaire and Guidance Notes for Conducting an Internationally Comparable Survey of Financial Literacy, Paris: OECD.

PISA (2012) Financial Literacy Assessment Framework, Paris: OCED, April 2012.

Retirement Commission (2008) New Zealand's National Strategy for Financial Literacy, Wellington, New Zealand: Retirement Commission.