Does Financial Education at School Work? Evidence from Italy

Abstract

In the 2008-09 school year the Bank of Italy and the Italian Ministry of Education started an experimental program to incorporate financial education into school curricula. This paper describes the experience since then. According to the program, teachers receive training from the Bank on financial topics and then move on to classroom teaching. The effect of classroom teaching on pupils’ financial knowledge is measured by tests. The empirical evidence shows that the program proved successful in increasing the financial knowledge of pupils, for longer than one year.

Keywords: financial literacy, youth financial education, money, pre-/post-test design

JEL Classification: D14, I22