About 100 professionals, parents and community members gathered in the Michele Clark High School auditorium Wednesday for a listening session sponsored by the Economic Awareness Council aimed at teaching young people the importance of knowing how to manage their money.
The event was part of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, a national program started by President Obama Jan. 29, 2010, to help Americans understand financial matters and teach them how to make informed financial decisions. The youth subcommittee is targeted at teaching financial literacy to young people.
There’s a significant need to identify financial capability solutions that work for students, to change behavior and help develop long-term life skills. Even with recent increases in financial education, on average, American youth fail basic financial literacy assessments.
Student debt has risen to now surpass credit card debt in total size; 70 percent of American families do not have enough emergency savings, and a third of families in many of our city’s neighborhoods do not have bank accounts.
The event featured student demonstrations from Young Illinois Saves, a collaborative effort of more than 50 organizations throughout the state, that has served more than 3,000 students since 2010 and generated more than 1,800 savings commitments. Savings pledges now total more than $1 million annually.
Roundtable discussions were led by professionals, including City Treasurer Stephanie D. Neely and John Rogers, chairman, CEO and CIO of Ariel Investments, as well as representatives from the Consumer Federation of America/American Saves, Young Illinois Saves, the Museum of Science and Industry, Ladder Up and the National Federation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.
Members of Austin Coming Together and Executive Director Amara Enyia, as well as students from Chicago Talent Development Charter High School, were among those who attended the event.
“The Michele Clark High School freshmen AVID Saves leaders did a tremendous job providing a live demonstration of their program to other students. These students then all opened savings accounts with local ABC Bank,” the Economic Awareness Council’s Tracy Frizzell said in an e-mail.
For more information about the Economic Awareness Council, e-mail info@ecouncil.org.
Thank you President’s Council, Michele Clark High School, JP Morgan Chase, ABC Bank, State Farm Insurance Companies, Young Illinois Saves, Austin Coming Together, Economic Awareness Council, Chicago Talent Development High School and many other community partners for this wonderful event. Great job student leaders! Thank you Austin Talks for covering this youth opportunity. Learn more at http://www.YoungIllinoisSaves.org.
It is great to see students learn the importance of taking care of their finances. Basic budgeting should play a more important role in our education system nation wide. Teen’s that learn to handle their finances and live within a budget will much better off as they enter adulthood.