Financial education: Italian 15-year-olds below the OECD average

This is stated in the "Financial Literacy - OECD Pisa" report which examined a sample of over 6 thousand students from high schools, technical and professional institutes throughout Italy.

ROME –Italian 15-year-olds are below the average of their peers in OECD countries in financial management and in the ability to manage money, purchases and savings. This is certified by the “Financial Literacy-Ocse Pisa 2022” report, which assigns our children a score of 484 points (lower than the 498 average), similar to the obtained by Norwegians and Spaniards, but lower than those of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Portugal and Hungary.
20 countries participated in the survey, including 14 OECD and 6 partners for a total of approximately98,000 students. The Italian sample is made up of over 6,200 students from 343 schools.
Compared to 2015, Italian children achieved an improvement of 11 points, which rises to 17 on 2012. There are strong territorial differences: students from the North East (506) and the North West (509) obtain an average score that is statistically higher than the other geographical areas and the national average. The Center (484) does not deviate from this average, while that of students from the South (448) and the South Islands (461) is lower.

THE STUDENTS OF THE HIGH-SCHOOLS ABOVE THE OECD AVERAGE, TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL BADNESS

Among the various types of schools, in PISA 2022 financial literacy, high school students achieve the highest score (507), followed by technical institute students (478). Students from professional institutes (409) and professional training (411) obtain a score lower than other types of school and similar to each other. Approximately 1 in 10 students in high schools does not reach the minimum level of competence; almost 5 out of 10 in vocational education and training. In Italy, boys exceed girls in financial literacy by 20 points; this gap is found starting from the average good students and increases among the best ones. At the average OECD level, the difference in favor of boys is 5 points.

IN THE FAMILY THERE IS LITTLE CONFRONTATION ABOUT “MONEY”

In Italy, in line with what happens at the OECD average level, the issues closest to the daily life of fifteen-year-olds are those discussed most frequently in the family, such as the issue of money for the things the student wants to buy; However, discussions on general economic issues and the family budget are less frequent. These two issues, in Italy, are discussed within the family to a lesser extent than the OECD average. Overall, no gender differences emerge in family involvement in discussions on financial topics. However, considering the individual topics, boys talk to their parents to a greater extent than girls about topics such as the budget, news regarding the economy or finance and their saving decisions.
Overall, on a OECD average and in Italy, students who come from disadvantaged families discuss economic issues with their parents less than others.

THE MOST KNOWN FINANCIAL TERM? IT’S “SALARY”

As for the role of school, the students were presented with 16 terms relating to the economic and financial world. Students had to indicate whether they had ever heard of it or learned anything about it in the last twelve months at school. In Italy, students on average declare that they have learned at school and know the meaning of less than half of the terms proposed: 6 terms out of 16, one term less than the OECD average. In Italy, the best known term is “salary”, the least known is “compound interest”. Students from the North West and North East are more familiar with financial concepts; Technical institute students know on average about one term more than others. Furthermore, 62% of Italian students believe that financial topics are important for them, a figure in line with the OECD average. Almost 8 out of 10 students say they know how to manage their money.

OVER 6 OUT OF 10 GUYS: “I BUY IT BECAUSE ALL MY FRIENDS HAVE IT”

On the influence of friends on students’ spending behaviors and attitudes, 61% of Italians (60% OECD average) say they bought something because their friends had it; 43 % (47% OECD average) say they spend more than they would like when they are with friends; 38% (34% OECD average) often buy what friends recommend; 30% (22% OECD average) want to keep up with their friends’ lifestyles; 18% (20% OECD average) recognize that friends have a strong influence on their spending decisions.