By Gabriella Marcelline
Many Queensland households have recently expressed concern for their children’s futures amidst the uncertainty of COVID-19.
A nationwide survey of 1000 parents conducted by the Financial Basics Foundation found that nearly 63% of Queensland parents with children aged 13-18 were worried about their child’s financial future.
65% thought that the cashless society that comes with the pandemic would affect the way that teenagers see value in money.
Financial Basics Foundation CEO Katrina Samios said this is a critical time for young people to understand how to handle finances in a cashless society.
“Some of the survey results are quite shocking…nearly one in five Queensland teenagers learned about money and investing from either the internet, social media or the media. Less than 12% learned about personal finance at school,” Ms Samios said.
“The Financial Basics Foundation provides free financial literacy teaching resources… We have been calling for some time now for financial literacy to be approached in a more systematic and consistent way within schools.”
“Many young people leave school and start working with no real education about how to handle the money they are being paid.”
Ms Samios said that parents have found their children falling victim to online scams, sacrificing their hard-earned money through online shopping.
“More than 7% of Queensland teenagers ordered something online which never arrived, 2% fell for a threat-based scam, and 5% invested in something which turned out to be a scam,” she said.
Over half of the respondents expressed concern about new style credit services. However, they did express willingness for their teens to use these news services if regulated banks offered them.
Suncorp Everyday Banking EGM, Nick Fernando, said that this new financial environment only highlights the importance of re-educating young people about their finances.
“Understanding and managing finances is an extremely important skill,” Dr Fernando said.
“Helping teenagers build their financial literacy is part of Suncorp’s commitment to providing inclusive financial services and increasing financial resilience within our community.”
The 2021 Suncorp ESSI Money Challenge is a free online financial competition for high school students with a cash prize of up to $1,500.
The competition runs from 16-27 of August and teaches students essential lessons on earning, saving, spending, and investing through real-world simulations.
To find out more and register for the competition, go to financialbasics.org.au.