Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial capability of UK citizens; whether it is affected by (1) age group, (2) gender, or (3) region; and what plans they have to review the provision of financial education in secondary schools.

The government is committed to ensuring that people are able to use, and maximise their use of, products and services made available by the financial services industry. Government policy on financial capability and education focuses on ensuring that people can access the guidance they need and have the confidence and skills to successfully engage with their finances. That is why the government established the Money and Pension Service (MaPS) in January 2019, merging the three former organisations providing free-to-use financial guidance (the Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service, and Pension Wise) to simplify the existing public financial guidance landscape and offer more holistic support to consumers.

MaPS’s 2018 Adult Financial Capability Survey identified and measured the key components of financial capability through a large, nationally representative sample. This data can be broken down across a range of sociodemographic factors including age, gender and region. The full dataset is publicly available and will be updated later this year.

In 2020, MaPS published the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, which sets out five national goals to improve the UK’s financial wellbeing by 2030. These include 2 million more children and young people getting a meaningful financial education, and 5 million more people understanding enough to plan for, and in, later life. The Strategy also includes three cross-cutting lenses focusing on gender, mental health, and wellbeing in the workplace. MaPS are working closely with a range of stakeholders from different sectors to deliver the Strategy, including to develop delivery plans for each of the four UK nations.

The government has no plans to review the provision of financial education. In 2014, for the first time, financial literacy was made statutory within the National Curriculum in England, as part of the curriculum for citizenship education for 11 to 16 year olds. At the same time, the government also introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to make important financial decisions. The Department for Education trusts schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their school.