taipei dinner news-bank-6-14-06-Junior high school students score 61 in financial knowledge

Junior high school students score 61 in financial knowledge
Financial Health Camp to be held at larger scale

A survey on Taiwan’s junior high school students’ values and financial knowledge and behaviors was released today (June 14) during a press conference jointly held by the Citi Foundation and the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation (TWRF). In response to the survey results and the Ministry of Education’s decision that financial education will be included in the formal curriculum next year, the Teens Financial Health Camp will be held in the summer vacation at a larger scale for students to learn financial management skills so as to realize their dreams.
Head of Citibank Taiwan’s Country Corporate Affairs Michelle Liao, TWRF’s Director Chen Yue-ching and Executive Director Kang Shu-hua, and famous TV host Emi Lee attended the press conference, calling on the public to care for the youth and help them lay a solid foundation for their financial health.
This survey also demonstrates the achievements Citi and TWRF have made on junior high school campus over the past year. The two organizations have worked on the Dollars & $ense financial education campaign at high schools for over six years.
Surveys conducted before and after the campaign found that after financial education promotions were held on campus, students’ “financial quotient” rose from 61 to 67, those who were able to plan expenditures and execute the budget surged from 28% to 47%, and those who expressed willingness to keep accounts skyrocketed from 23% to 76%.
To address students’ blind spots in financial knowledge as shown in survey results, Citi and TWRF will launch the free-of-charge Teens Financial Health Camp at a larger scale. In August, Citi volunteers will teach 100 students aged 15 to 18 in Kaohsiung and Taipei how to make plans and realize financial goals, and how to deal with complex financial situations they might face in the future. Registration is open till July 20. Registration forms are available to download on TWRF’s website at www.twrf.org.tw.
Teens Financial Health Camp to be held at larger scale
In addition, the Dollars and $ense activity was already held in northern, central and southern Taiwan in early June when teachers from 20 high schools learned about the teaching materials designed for the financial camp. Through their teaching at school, an additional of 4,500 students will benefit from the courses tailor-made for the Financial Health Camp. They would be able to pick up the financial knowledge and planning skills required to realize their dreams.
This is Citi’s another innovation among its various efforts to cultivate financial health education and raise public awareness in Taiwan. Liao from Citibank Taiwan’s Country Corporate Affairs said since 2004, the Citi Foundation has invested over NT$60 million in Taiwan to tailor-make educational materials for elementary, high school and university students, as well as their parents and teachers. It has organized over 1,000 promotional events to benefit more than 400,000 people. “Apart from participating in various promotional events, Citi and its volunteering colleagues expect to inspire more people to ‘make a change,’” said Liao. “In addition to continually working on campus, Citi’s financial education is poised to further influence teachers and parents, and spread its impacts into communities and families. The ultimate goal is to help Taiwanese people lay a solid foundation for their financial health so that they can enjoy a better life and have their dreams come true,” she added.
The Dollars and $ense campaign aims at raising young people’s financial awareness and helping them foster correct values through face-to-face talks. TWRF’s Chen, whose kids are also youngsters, said, “TWRF has devoted itself into the issues related with disadvantaged women and children, as well as young people, for a long time. Our experiences reveal that only by directly talking to the youth can we achieve the effects of positive communication and education. Through the Dollars and $ense campaign, Citi and TWRF have organized interactive activities to promote correct money concepts and values over the past five years. Not only can it prevent youngsters from going astray due to incorrect judgments, it will help them cherish themselves more and build a bright future for the entire society.”
The survey released today and the Teens Financial Health Camp are both part of the Dollars and $ense campaign jointly launched by Citi and TWRF. In view that correct financial knowledge is conducive to helping people make correct financial decisions, the Citi Foundation has continuously sponsored TWRF since 2004 by investing over NT$18.5 million (US$575,000) in total to promote values and financial education among young people. The two organizations have held 477 promotional events on campus to benefit more than 240,000 youngsters nationwide, including outlying islands.
This survey on young people’s values and financial behaviors was conducted in the nation’s four areas—north, center, south and east—between September 2009 and April 2010, involving students at the junior high schools where Citi and TWRF held financial knowledge promotional campaigns. The survey was carried out both before the promotions, with 1,544 effective samples obtained, and after the promotions, with 1,781 effective samples collected. It is aimed at understanding junior high school students’ financial behaviors, values, Internet networking, blogging behaviors and attitudes, mobile phone usage, leisure activities, interaction with families, and changes on their financial concepts after the campus education.
This survey presents some important findings in students’ “financial quotient” and behaviors, as follows. Please refer to the report’s summary issued along with the press release for detailed information.

A. Junior high school students’ financial situation:
1. They want more pocket money
Only 40% of the junior high school students interviewed are satisfied with the amount of pocket money they have. The students’ monthly allowance is NT$633 on average but their expected amount is an average of NT$1,079, around 70% more. The major source of the pocket money is their parents but more students in eastern Taiwan need to do housework or win scholarships to earn their allowances.
It is worth noting that boys have more pocket money than girls and those who are given more pocket money still want more. This indicates that students should examine and adjust their spending, or discuss with parents about the ideal amount of the allowances and how to use it wisely.
2. Pocket money mainly goes to savings or buying snacks and drinks
It is comforting that 65% of the junior high school students have the habit of saving part of their pocket money. The rest of the allowances mainly go to drinks and snacks (58%) and stationery (56%). It is worth noting that 5% would lend the money to their classmates, indicating that borrowing and loaning already exists on campus.
3. Most can plan how to use pocket money but fail to implement the plans
Only 28% of the students are capable of budgeting and implementing the plans to spend their pocket money. 44% said they would think about the plans but do not follow them. Another 28% do not budget or implement any pocket money plans.
4. Saving is the most common method but students are open to mutual fund
Saving is the major financial method among the students, with 74% possessing bank or post office accounts. But 70% of the students choose to put money in the place they know or let their family members take care of it, instead of saving it at financial institutions to earn interest. However, they express strong interest in investment tools. After learning about various financial tools and their characteristics during the campus education, 18% said they would like to try mutual funds, 23% are willing to buy insurances and 9% want to buy stocks. After learning that savings can earn interest, 10% more of the respondents chose to deposit their money at banks or the post office, compared with those opting to put money in the place they know.
5. Financial crisis affects students’ financial behaviors
Compared with the survey two years ago, junior high school students are found to have become more money conscious. Although their average pocket money rise from NT$547 to NT$633, the figure they wish for drops by NT$107. The students who would save their allowances jumped from 2% to 65%.
Survey questions Average pocket money The amount of pocket money they hope for The proportion of students who would save their pocket money
Academic year 2007 NT$547 NT$1,186 2%
Academic year 2009 NT$633 NT$1,079 65%

B. Junior high school student’s financial knowledge and value of money:
1. Junior high school students need to strengthen financial knowledge
Prior to the campus education, the survey on students’ financial knowledge found that they scored only an average of 61 out of 100 points. They generally understand the concepts regarding financing and credit (88 points) and opportunity cost (67 points). However, they only scored 45 on the difference between simple interest and compound interest and only 42 on questions about credit cards. After the campus education, however, their financial awareness noticeably improved with the average score jumping to 67. Their score on calculations of simple interest and compound interest improved to 60 points but they still need to enhance their understanding on credit cards (43 points).
2. Financial knowledge mainly comes from parents
Most junior high school students obtain their financial information from the family (83%), followed by TV (50%), teachers (40%) and the Internet (37%). This indicates that parents’ words and deeds at home exert a much greater influence on children than any other media, and school education also needs to emphasize financial knowledge. Meanwhile, teachers and parents should discuss with the youth to understand whether the financial information they obtain from TV and the Internet is correct.
3. Most agree money should be saved as much as possible
When it comes to the value of money, most students identify with “saving.” 50% said money should be saved as much as possible, and this proportion rose to 63% after campus promotions. 46% agreed that knowing how to spend money wisely is as important as making money, but savings should be made as well. Only 3% said they spend at will and do not bother saving.

C. According to survey results, we suggest:
1. As families exert the greatest influence, parents should discuss the value of money and practice with children how to make financial plans at home
During the interaction activities, we found that parents can strengthen their communication with children on money issues. For instance, students expect to have an average allowance of NT$1,079 per month, 70% more than the actual amount they have now (NT$633). However, only 31% of the junior high school students touch upon money issues, such as pocket money, financial planning and spending, when chatting with parents. Although their conversations do not cover a wide range of money issues, 83% of the students obtain their financial information mainly from parents, indicating that young people are observing parents’ financial behaviors all the time. The cross analysis also shows that if parents are better at making budget plans, their children would have a better idea of how to spend money.
We suggest parents start helping children understand what expenditures are about them in the household. They can discuss with kids how to prepare their future tuition fees, budgets of family travel and dining out, or how to spend their pocket money. During this process, parents would know better their children’s life, needs and values.
2. Young people’s financial behaviors are not in line with their value of money, indicating that they need to learn financial management
The survey shows that 50% of the students agree they should save as much money as they can, but in actual pocket money usages, only 28% would make budgets and follow the plans when spending their allowances. Most students (44%) said they would think about how to spend the money first but would not adhere to the plans. Young people nowadays are exposed to information of various financial tools. Only by teaching them how to use these tools can we help them acquire relevant habits.
3. Young people are already capable of learning financial management and should be given the due education
The tests conducted before and after students participated in the Dollars & $ense campaign show that the financial education has improved their financial knowledge (up from 61 points to 67) and influenced their values and behaviors. For example, those who agree that they should save as much money as they can grew from 50% to 63%; those who would make budgets and follow the plans rose from 28% to 47%; in actual pocket money usage, those able to save their allowances increased from 65% to 71%; and those willing to keep accounts jumped from 23% to 76%. This indicates that the youth is capable of learning financial knowledge and simple applications for personal finance. The public should pay more attention to this area and help young people acquire the abilities of planning personal finance to build an independent and healthy financial future.
Improvements made on students’ financial knowledge and behaviors before and after campus promotions
Improvements made Financial knowledge Those who agree money should be saved as much as possible Those who would make budgets and follow the plans Those who would save pocket money Those who would keep accounts
Before campus promotions 61 points 50% 28% 65% 23%
After campus promotions 67 points 63% 47% 71% 76%
4. Help students acquire correct knowledge about financial products. Insurance and fund are the most suitable items
The students who are willing to try insurance and fund investment accounted for 23% and 18%, respectively. In fact, these two are the most suitable tools for young people to start with. Parents and teachers can teach them correct concepts of these investment tools with the information provided by professional financial institutions. For instance, the younger one is insured, the lower the insurance premiums. They can also learn about reward and risk, and the relations between time and compound interest in mutual fund investment.
5. There is a financial knowledge gap between urban and rural areas, which requires education to reduce
In the surveys before the campus education, students in northern, central and southern Taiwan on average scored between 60 and 62. But those in the resource-limited eastern area only reported 55 points as the information they are exposed to is far less than their counterparts in other areas. As a result, Citi and TWRF will invest more resources in these areas and continue to expand their influence in suburbs, economically disadvantaged regions and groups, and outlying islands.
Citi and TWRF welcome all the schools and teachers to join the Dollars and $ense education campaign. For more information, please contact TWRF’s planning and resource development department at 02-2555-8595 ext. 65-67, or email to pr@twrf.org.tw. We believe that with concerted efforts, we can exert a profound influence on education and the building of young people’s values.
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Media contacts:
Citi Corporate Affairs Maxine Yang +886-2-8726-9689
Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation Chris Sun +886-2-2555-8595 ext. 65
About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.
About Citi Foundation
The Citi Foundation is committed to the economic empowerment of individuals and families, particularly those in need, in the communities where we work so that they can improve their standard of living. Globally, the Citi Foundation targets its strategic giving to priority focus areas: Microfinance and Microenterprise, Small and Growing Businesses, College and Careers, and Financial Capability and Asset Building. The Citi Foundation works with its partners worldwide in Microfinance and Microenterprise and Small and Growing Businesses to support environmental programs and innovations. Additional information can be found at www.citifoundation.com.
About the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation
The Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation was founded in 1987, during an era when rampant news reports about underage girls being sold by their parents or forced into prostitution shocked society and the government alike. In addition to helping terminate the immoral trade in women in Taiwan, the establishment of the foundation also marks a milestone in advocating equal rights for both genders in the nation’s history of women’s movements. For more information, please visit the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation website at www.twrf.org.tw.