Lib Dems Push For Financial Education For York’s Young People (York Liberal Democrats)

York Liberal Democrats <info@yorklibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dems Push For Financial Education For York’s Young People

December 8, 2011 9:28 AM

Ian Cuthbertson Pupils in York's schools are nearer to receiving vital lessons in managing their personal finances, thanks to local Liberal Democrats.

To ensure that local children and young people gain these important skills Liberal Democrat Councillor Ian Cuthbertson (Haxby and Wigginton) has put forward a motion to the Full Council meeting on 8th December, calling on Council officers to put forward ways in which local children and young people can be taught how to manage their finances.

Councillor Cuthbertson said he hoped his motion would gain support from all parties at the Full Council meeting. He said, "It is in everyone's interest that young people learn how to manage their personal finances. High levels of personal debt were a big factor in the recession and by educating people to avoid unmanageable debt we can help protect the economy from similar problems in the future."

"It is vital that young people know how to manage their money before they leave school and start to live independently. And it's even more important in difficult economic times, as young people may be tempted to pay for things on credit without fully understanding the implications of doing so."

A national petition to make personal finance education part of the national curriculum recently secured more than 100,000 signatures, enough to trigger a Parliamentary debate which will now take place on 15th December.

225 MPs have also joined the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People, which also calls for compulsory money lessons. However, there are as yet no plans to make financial education compulsory.

Support for the petition is being co-ordinated by Caroline Stephens, a maths teacher from Wiltshire, who works with the Personal Finance Education Group, a charity which supports schools in providing financial education to pupils.

Liberal Democrat Councillors Carol Runciman, Keith Aspden and Ian Cuthbertson met Caroline earlier this year as she visited York to discuss the petition and how financial education could benefit York's young people.