Tough Economic Times Shine Spotlight on Financial Literacy

By Converge Staff

on March 9, 2009

Teenagers are watching their elders pay the consequences for racking up debt and spending without a budget, and many of them could follow the same path if they do not learn how to take care of their money.

Financial literacy groups have increased their efforts to teach the next generation about budgeting, paying bills and using credit cards. Many kids do not learn about personal finance at home or in schools, according to stories from the Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor.

In a 2007 Charles Schwab Corp. survey, 30 percent of the 1,000 participants said that their parents educated them on economics. Nine states currently require high school students to show proficiency in personal finance.

Many teens do not score well on personal finance tests. Only 35 students out of more than 46,000 answered every question correctly on a test from the Treasury Department last spring. See how financially literate you are by taking a financial literacy quiz.

For the complete stories, visit the Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor.

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