Young Brits misguided on money, says charity head

Young people in Britain have the right attitude when it comes to handling money, but many lack the "knowledge and skills" with which to keep an eye on their cash effectively,

Alistair Mathews, director of policy for the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg), has stressed that young adults and children would benefit from learning at school about how to best control their finances.

"There’s a tendency in school education to deal with the purely academic and not come back to the real world," he said.

Mr Mathews went on to say that young people can more of a financial burden once they make the transition into adulthood.

He explained: "There’s no doubt that young people now recognise that they’re going to be incurring considerable financial expenditure in the years immediately after they turn 18."

"Young people are serious and responsible about money anyway; I think they often just lack the knowledge and skills they need to make the best use of it," Mr Mathews concluded.

pfeg’s aim is to help young people to participate in society by equipping them with confidence, skills and knowledge in financial matters.