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1-Page Summary of Awareness

What Is “Financial Literacy”?

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines financial literacy as the “combination of awareness, knowledge, skill, attitude and behavior necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve individual financial well-being.” This definition includes cognitive ability, personality type and preferences. A lack of these skills can create a long-lasting negative cycle within families that are less financially literate.

Women can improve their financial skills by getting the proper training, information and guidance. This will help them understand money better and make better decisions about it. Policy makers should incorporate education about money into general consumer education.

Studies on financial literacy focus on five areas:

  1. The ability to meet the basic needs of a family is crucial.

  2. Successful entrepreneurs must have three skills: the ability to keep accurate financial records, the ability to create a spending plan, and an understanding of how money works.

  3. Women are less likely to be knowledgeable about financial topics, according to a study conducted by researchers. The results show that women have difficulty understanding basic financial concepts and answering questions related to finance.

Financial literacy varies by gender. Women are better at managing household funds and men are better with long-term planning, choosing products, and staying informed. In developed countries, women lag behind in skills pertaining to accumulating wealth and creating stability.

Why Target Women?

Financial experts from the OECD and its network on financial education (INFE) conducted a study to determine why women are less financially literate than men. They also wanted to know how this adversely affects the economy and women’s lives.

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) conducted a study to analyze the financial literacy of women. It looked at existing data on this issue and proposed some solutions. The INFE (International Network for Financial Education) agreed that financial literacy is important, but said it would focus more on women in its future efforts.

Girls in developing countries are not as likely to get the same education as boys. This is because they face cultural barriers that limit their access to educational opportunities, such as colleges and government training programs. In some countries, women receive more education about the marriage market than the labor market. In developed nations like the US, women tend to score lower on math skills tests than men do and have less financial education at home; they also encounter obstacles when it comes to working outside of the home (for example, childcare issues). They’re also less likely to own property or have access to credit compared with men.

In many families in America today, men manage most of a family’s finances rather than women doing so.

Research shows that girls feel less confident about their abilities to handle money than boys. They may actually be better at math, but it’s not because of gender bias. When tests are presented as being gender biased, women do poorly on them, but when the test is said to be unbiased, they do just as well as men.

Literacy Benefits Everyone

People who are financially literate have better control over their budgets, spending and debt. They also plan for retirement more effectively. Their household well-being is higher than that of people who do not know how to handle money wisely.

The more money you have, the better financial education you get. The less wealthy people are, the less they know about finance and the fewer services they use. Experts can demonstrate that financial literacy is important to an economy’s health, but most people don’t understand or care enough about it. This means there will be trouble for economies in the future as complexity increases without a corresponding increase in awareness of how things work.

Awareness Book Summary, by Anthony de Mello