Financial Literacy of Young Generation in Changing European Environment: Evidence from Germany and Latvia

Financial services have become more and more comprehensive over the past decade. In the recent financial crisis of 2009-2011 showed that uninformed consumers become easy targets for financial products that were not appropriate for them, in addition, financial risk was transferred to households. A common tendency in the European Union is insufficient attention to financial education in secondary school programmes. Financial topics are taught in economics classes without linking them to other subjects and everyday situations. The aim of the research is to investigate financial literacy and financial education from theoretical perspective, as well as to evaluate the level of financial literacy of young generation by conducting surveys among secondary school students in Germany and Latvia, and to identify the main directions for financial literacy promotion. In Latvian school system financial literacy topics are included only in a subject Economics, and they are examined rather from a theoretical perspective. In Germany, directives regarding the interdisciplinary integration of financial themes in schools have existed for many years. Nevertheless, in general grammar schools, financial literacy is still not covered sufficiently and also not integrated in lessons. The research results confirmed that the knowledge of the secondary school students is missing in the area of financial literacy. Reasons for this can be found in the congested school curriculum, due to the short time allotment, on the one hand and the lack of financial knowledge of teachers on the other.