The Young Persons’ Money Index 2023/24
Financial education was included on the national curriculum in 2014, and we’ve been monitoring young people’s experiences ever since through our Young Persons’ Money Index (YPMI).
This year’s results show that there’s been some progress in the last decade, but levels of anxiety about money, and the desire to learn more, remain incredibly high.
Here’s a summary of the key results.
Previous reports
Key statistics 2023/24
81% of young people in our survey said they worry about money or personal finances, compared to 60% in 2016.
85% would like to improve their financial situation.
82% say they want to learn more about money and finance in school.
Where do they go for information?
- 41% say they get most of their financial understanding from parents or family, down from 80% in 2016.
- The numbers saying they teach themselves (‘Self-learned’) has increased to 23% from 8% in 2016.
- For those who responded ‘Self-learned’, social media channels and/or social influencers came top of the list.
- Those who said they get most of their financial understanding ‘in school’ has risen to 18%.
- Only 2% say they go to a bank or financial company.
What do adults think?
About the YPMI
The Young Persons’ Money Index (YPMI) is an annual survey which tracks the take-up of financial education in schools in the UK. It also examines the attitudes, behaviours, and experiences of UK students in relation to money and personal finance. We’ve been tracking this since financial education was introduced onto the National Curriculum in September 2014.
For the 2023/24 edition we worked with Savanta to survey a representative sample of just over 2,000 secondary school children across the UK. Aged between 15 and 18, the young people came from a mix of schools including academies and local authority (state) schools, as well as independent schools. We asked them about:
- their access to financial education
- their confidence and behaviour with money
- their use of financial services, and
- their levels of financial capability and knowledge.
This year we also posed questions to parents, guardians, and teachers, to get a sense of their attitudes to young people and their levels of financial capability.