With recent research indicating Aussie kids are falling behind on financial literacy*, RateCity (www.ratecity.com.au), will be taking matters into its own hands and as a first step, supporting vulnerable communities in Australia through financial education initiatives.
The latest step, in a long term plan to make financial education available to all, sees Australia’s leading financial comparison site, partner with national children’s charity, Good Beginnings (www.goodbeginnings.org.au).
RateCity CEO, Alex Parsons, said, “This is an exciting opportunity to be a champion in educating kids and adults about complex financial issues, plus it allows us to give back to the community.
“We wanted to make sure the partnership we chose to enter into was in line with our core values and mission, which is to help Australians be smarter by comparison and make better choices with their finances,” he said.
“Good Beginnings is focused on improving the lives of Australians in vulnerable communities and that includes both parents and children and we see a role for financial education at both the parental level but also starting younger with children. We wanted to be involved with that.”
Good Beginnings CEO, Jayne Meyer Tucker, said: “We applaud RateCity’s keen interest in being involved in the future wellbeing of children in Australia, and are very excited to be partnering together. We look forward to working with RateCity on ways to help further children’s financial literacy – which is very closely linked to the essential numeracy skills that children need to ensure they are developing well and are the thriving, healthy and literate adults of tomorrow.”
Interesting and relevant financial education goes a long way to help children make better choices about money as adults, Parsons added.
“We’re keenly aware of the gap that exists in financial knowledge in this country, and since the government has not addressed this need in our schools, and parents don’t always have the right knowledge, we’re keen to make a difference”, he said.
“At the moment financial institutions are leading the charge on this by catering to school banking. But what we really want to see is more practical finance education for kids, and with our focus on expanding Australians knowledge of financial products and the ability to compare, we feel we can help.
“We are hoping to get involved at a grass roots level and support Good Beginnings through financial education initiatives with their communities along with fundraising and awareness raising activity,” he said.
*Australia is now out of step with global leaders when it comes to financial literacy at a school level: https://www.ratecity.com.au/media-room/australian-kids-behind-on-financial-education
