In the 14 OECD countries assessed in PISA 2022, 18% of students, on average, do not have basic proficiency in financial literacy, meaning that they are not able to apply their knowledge to real life situations involving financial issues and decisions. Improving financial literacy will not only bring short-term improvements to students’ money management, it will also help them take smarter financial decisions as they grow older.
Student financial literacy
Financial literacy entails having the knowledge and comprehension of financial concepts and risks, along with the skills and attitudes needed to apply this understanding to make effective decisions across a range of financial contexts. Its aim is to improve the financial well-being of individuals and society, enabling active participation in economic life.
Key messages
On average, about 60% of 15-year-old students have a bank account and/or a payment or debit card and more than 85% bought something online during the last 12 months.
Results show that financial literacy and positive financial behaviour are linked. Students who have better financial literacy skills behave more responsibly financially and are more forward-looking and financially pro-active. High performers in financial literacy are 72% more likely than low performers to save money, and 50% more likely to compare prices in different shops before buying something.
Parents matter. Students who discuss their saving or purchasing decisions with their parents (68% do so at least once a month) are much more financially literate.
Further, students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds perform lower in financial literacy, with the background accounting for 12% of the variation in performance. This underlines the importance of giving all students equal opportunities to learn about money than their better-off peers.
This is all the more relevant as students who have been exposed to tasks in schools exploring financial issues perform better in financial literacy. However, only two in three students have been exposed to tasks exploring financial issues in schools.
Context
Financial literacy performance and students’ confidence in using digital financial services
PISA 2018 results show that students who reported that they are confident in performing each of the five digital finance-related tasks also scored higher in the financial literacy assessment, on average across OECD countries and economies. However, the difference in performance varied across tasks.
Financial literacy performance and students’ confidence in using digital financial services (2018)
Financial literacy performance and students’ autonomy in financial affairs
PISA 2018 results show that students who were more independent in their financial affairs performed better in the financial literacy assessment, both before and after accounting for gender, socio-economic status and immigrant background.
Financial literacy performance, by students’ autonomy in spending decisions (2018)
