Between January – June 2021, eight NGOs from Romania, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Greece and Bulgaria, involved in the “Youth Finance Academy“ project, published a research about financial management of young people and young entrepreneurs. The study ”Financial Well-being of the Z Generation” was carried out on a sample of 1600 young people and young entrepreneurs and aimed to identify the key factors influencing the financial management.
The research emphasize the psychological, social, situational, demographic and personality traits on financial administration and an analysis of the best practices. The results were integrated in seven national reports, one European report and one Best practice guide available here.
According to the research conducted in Romania, 15% of the respondents estimates an average level of financial literacy, 22% consider that they have and apply their financial knowledge. 63% consider they did not have access to this type of education. Only 30,2% of the respondents stated that the monthly level of expenses it is in balance with that of the savings; 19,1% currently enjoys a high level of life quality due to the way they manage their financial resources, while only 13,6% consider they are capable to insure a good financial future. The main causes of the lack of financial literacy identified by the young people are insufficient funds, lack of knowledge when they take financial decisions, they don’t know how to manage their revenues, how to save money and how to identify the best ways to manage their funds.
“With the evolution of the pandemic, financial education has returned to the public agenda as a topical issue. The current economic climate has put pressure on most social categories, and young people have been no exception, being severely affected financially, amid precarious financial education. In this context, we set out to extend the range of the support services that we offer to the young people and equip the youth workers with knowhow, competences and necessary tools for a good financial management. We invited besides us youth organizations from countries like Finland, Denmark, Norway that already have a high level of literacy, but also other countries to develop the Youth Finance Academy – a unique collection of support tools dedicated to European youth NGOs and their employees. We are confident that together with our partners we will contribute to increasing the degree of financial education among young and young entrepreneurs. “ stated Alexandra OROS – Project Coordinator Youth Finance Academy.
The study is part of the “Youth Finance Academy” project (YFA), coordinated by Monomyths Association and implemented during 01.12.2020 – 30.11.2022 by eight organizations from seven countries – Romania, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Greece and Bulgaria. The project is financed by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ Programme and aims to develop with the help of a network of financial experts a collection of 3 financial education tools for Youth NGOs to support around 400 young people and young entrepreneurs to achieve a high-quality financial literacy. The project will be completed with 6 national seminars and the international event Youth Financial Education Forum.
