On the 3rd of September as part of Money Week, COMET Auckland in collaboration with Massey University (Fin Ed Centre) and the Commission for Financial literacy and Retirement hosted Money Smarts: Financial Literacy for Young People.
The purpose of the event was two-fold. The first was to talk about the unique issues faced by young people with money. We spoke about how money had
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| Clementine Ludlow from the CFLRI addresses the audience |
become invisible for young people. The Commission presented a DVD from Australia that revealed some frightening data about youth and money - and the data is just as relevant for youth in New Zealand.
Did you know?
- 36% of 12-16 year olds have been in debt
- More than half of 18-24 year olds have consumer debt
- 25% have a credit card
- 1/5 of young people with credit cards hardly ever or never pay the full balance every month
- 76% of 10-17 year olds own mobile phones
- More than half of them are paying for their own
- 27% of young people have purchased goods on the internet
- More than half of them used a credit card to make the purchase
The second focus of the forum was the launch of the Money Smarts Youth Workers Financial Literacy Tutors programme. This programme has been developed by Massey University in collaboration with Auckland Youth Service providers. The concept is to train up youth workers to educate young people about money, using more youth centric materials. The Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement are sponsoring 22 youth workers to go through this exciting programme.
