Schools: Financial Education

Lord Watson of Invergowrie Excerpts

Wednesday 31st January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Sater, for securing this debate and introducing it so effectively. It is a shame that noble Lords have such a short speaking time this evening but I suppose that is testament to the fact that so many of us feel strongly about the need for young people to be properly prepared in financial literacy. The Education Select Committee feels the same; yesterday, it began its inquiry on this subject.

I want to concentrate on the need to include financial education as a compulsory part of primary education. As the noble Baroness said, research for the Money and Pensions Service suggested that money habits are formed as early as the age of seven, highlighting the importance of starting to educate children about financial matters at primary school. This position was emphasised by organisations such as the Centre for Financial Capability, Kickstart Money, Parentkind and the Centre for Social Justice in briefings for this debate, yet England remains the only part of the UK where financial education is not included in the national curriculum at primary school level.

That point is clearly stated by the Money and Pensions Service, an arm’s-length body of government sponsored by the DWP, which says on its website:

“In England, financial education is included in the national curriculum in secondary schools only”.


Yet, in answer to an Oral Question in your Lordships’ House on 13 March last year, the Minister said that

“at key stage 1, the compulsory curriculum includes helping children understand how they make choices about how to spend, how to save and how to use money”.—[Official Report, 14/3/23; col. 1192.]

If the Minister maintains that position, she is in denial because only around a third of primary school pupils receive any meaningful form of financial education.

The government-funded Money and Pensions Service also said in a report published four months ago:

“The earlier the better—interventions at a young age can positively enhance financial capability”.


So what are we waiting for? The simple answer is this: a Labour Government, who will review the curriculum. I am confident that the embedding of financial education in the primary curriculum will soon be a fact of school life, bringing England into line with the rest of the UK. Future generations and the economy will be the beneficiaries.