Helping to Build Financial Capabilities of Young People in the Time of Covid-19

The past few months have fuelled an ongoing public discussion surrounding youth employment, the challenges for future generations and priorities for government in addressing the demands of these "unprecedented times" (there we said it). As a company, MyPocketSkill, is focused on two things:

1. Enabling young people to earn money and during the lockdown we have managed to support hundreds of teens to do just that. The feedback has been nothing short of excellent from both young people and parents. 
2. Helping to building good financial habits is another important strand to what we do and it is just as relevant today. The MyPocketSkill team in the past has authored a piece of research, commissioned by The Money Advice Service, to look at the evidence base behind financial capability-building programmes for young people and to drill down into what's effective. 

We have distilled this work into key themes - some of the highlights are: 

- Earning pocket money is much more powerful from an educational perspective than just receiving it 

- Learning-by-doing can generate great results - so go out there and start practising (not just the spending bit...)

- Learning is much greater at an important moment, when it is relevant - rather than just from a theoretical perspective.  All transitions are important moments, like leaving school to go to uni or to start a new job

-Financial education is too important to be left solely to teachers; parents are the most important role models to children and young people when it comes to financial behaviours

- It's not just about the accumulation of knowledge about financial products and services - a major part of financial capability development is around the cognitive factors (and organisational skills) that influence things like prioritising tasks, setting goals and controlling impulses. 

Read more from this report here.

We can carry forward these lessons in 2020 to formulate our priorities when it comes to equipping young people with the vital skills they need to secure their futures. Importantly, the next generation platform that we are soon to launch will do both - help to earn and build financial capabilities of Gen Z. It could not come at a more important time.