Visa Europe and JA Europe Launch New Research to Address the Financial Skills Gap in Young People

Businesses across Europe are being invited to collaborate in new research which will help identify the financial skills needed by young people in today’s digital economy.

The research, Financial Education in the 21st Century, is the result of a partnership between payments company Visa Europe and JA Europe, Europe’s largest provider of education programmes for entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy.
 
Launched to coincide with European Money Week in collaboration with the European Banking Federation, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Vienna University of Economics and Business, the research will examine employers’ needs in terms of the financial skills and knowledge of young people as they enter the European workforce.
 
“We see financial literacy as a key transversal supporting long term outcomes like entrepreneurship and employability. It is a must for individuals as they manage their own careers, livelihoods and families. Young people are too often caught by the complexity of financial matters.” says Caroline Jenner, CEO of JA Europe.
 
Visa Europe’s Chief Communications Officer Fiona Wilkinson adds: “Electronic payments are changing the way that we pay and are paid at an unprecedented speed. This pace of change makes it all the more vital that we equip young people with the money management expertise they need for work and life in a digital world. 
 
“We are proud to join together with JA Europe to support this important research which will aid understanding of the gaps that exist today and identify the need for financial education in the 21st Century across Europe”.
 
Highlights:
Five case studies will demonstrate good practices on financial education in Poland, Romania, Spain Turkey, and the UK,

A pan European survey will identify the gap between young people financial capability and employers’ needs in terms of financial skills and knowledge.

Members of the business community across Europe are invited to participate in the survey and help pinpoint key financial capability requirements of future employees.

The results will be announced in September 2016.

Contact: 
Mathilde Poncelet
Policy & Communications, JA Europe