American high schoolers have a hard time answering basic questions about bank
accounts, saving money and credit cards.
The TEST - Students were asked to do things like interpret a sample invoice,
read a bank statement and - in one of the more difficult questions - explain
the benefits of paying off a high-interest loan with money from another lender.
According to a new study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development which compared the financial literacy of 15 years olds in 18
countries. Only one in 10 high schoolers was considered someone who can
look ahead to solve financial problems or make the kinds of financial decisions
that will be relevant to them in the future. That is in sharp contrract to Chinese
students who ranked at the top of the list.
The gap between Chinese and American students is stark. Students in Shanghai
province received a mean score of 602 on the exam, a startling 100 points higher
than the mean score for the rest of the countires studied. As for American teens,
their mean score was 492.
Sheila McKinney
