Puts our pay into perspective

[SueEllen]

Less passive-aggressively, you can easily bring simple financial stuff into maths teaching for instance rather than create a new subject.

Firstly in primary school in various subjects, plus in both Maths and Home Economics in Secondary school we were taught budgeting.

I was taught about interest and how to calculate units to estimate bills in Maths.

However:
1. Most people who were taught this can't remember they were actually taught anything as they see school subjects as abstract,
2. It isn't all taught to kids in the lower sets,
3. With some products e.g. credit cards the interest is deliberately done in a way that even Maths professors have difficulty calculating it.

[kaiser78]

You go with your stereotyping; I've seen it first hand and it's nothing like that for the people I know.

But I've watched the programmes on Ch5...

[vetran]

Firstly in primary school in various subjects, plus in both Maths and Home Economics in Secondary school we were taught budgeting.

I was taught about interest and how to calculate units to estimate bills in Maths.

However:
1. Most people who were taught this can't remember they were actually taught anything as they see school subjects as abstract,
2. It isn't all taught to kids in the lower sets,
3. With some products e.g. credit cards the interest is deliberately done in a way that even Maths professors have difficulty calculating it.

1 - not taught, my parents explained it to me or rather they taught me to read & understand contracts.
2 - these are the ones that really need it.
3 - legislate so they can't.

Just like sex education we have to do this as parents either don't understand or care.

[VectraMan]

Firstly in primary school in various subjects, plus in both Maths and Home Economics in Secondary school we were taught budgeting.

I'd suggest people surviving on minimum wage are probably much better at budgeting than the likes of us. Well me anyway, as I have no idea what my living costs are for the most part.

I don't remember Home Economics being anything about economics.

[The_Equalizer]

Perhaps just teach that when you're in debt you're in someone else's pocket!

[kaiser78]

I'd suggest people surviving on minimum wage are probably much better at budgeting than the likes of us. Well me anyway, as I have no idea what my living costs are for the most part.

I don't remember Home Economics being anything about economics.

Agree - Home Economics in our school was about cooking and sewing etc and nothing about financial economics.

[VillageContractor]

I'd suggest people surviving on minimum wage are probably much better at budgeting than the likes of us. Well me anyway, as I have no idea what my living costs are for the most part.

I don't remember Home Economics being anything about economics.

This! I don't look at my bank statement. I budgeted better when I was a student.

[SueEllen]

Perhaps just teach that when you're in debt you're in someone else's pocket!

Not true though.

"If you owe your bank £100 you have a problem. But if you owe a million, they have."

Though today it would be:
"If you owe your bank a thousand pounds you have a problem. But if you owe a billion, they have."

[LondonManc]

But I've watched the programmes on Ch5...

About the ones actually on the dole as a career rather than the ones with a bit of pride who are grafters? Yeah, the two groups often get lumped together despite the second group being generally decent people.

[SueEllen]

Agree - Home Economics in our school was about cooking and sewing etc and nothing about financial economics.

You were lucky.

We had Textiles to learn about sewing. Catering to learn about cooking but you could only do that from age 14. Until then you did Home Economics.

Home Economics was just fecking dull - we did loads of book work then occasionally made something simple.

The fact my classmates from South Asian backgrounds could make full curries from when they started secondary school was eventually realised by my teacher, when they made one for something else.