Empowering the next generation with financial skills

As we revealed in late 2023, 76% young people (Generation Alpha) across Europe aspire to either establish their own business, run a small enterprise, or pursue a 'side hustle'.

This is a remarkable figure given just 18% of the current working population work for themselves¹, demonstrating a huge ambition and appetite to be successful financially and independently.

It’s crucial that future generations from all backgrounds feel empowered to develop positive financial behaviours. As Mairead McGuinness, Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union quoted at the launch of a joint EU/OECD financial competence framework for children last year², “Our relationship with money starts at a very young age and habits created when we are young stay with us throughout our lives.”

So, for these generation Alpha kids to stand a chance of being the next wave of entrepreneurs and business owners through Europe, they’ll need access to digital skills and programmes to support their development.

But the playing field isn’t level and access to trusted and credible sources of information can be challenging. According to the "Young persons' money index 2022/23" from the London Institute of Banking and Finance, only 8 percent of those aged 15 to 18 cited their school as a main source of financial education, with 68 per cent citing their parents and 19 per cent claiming to be "self-taught"³. Furthermore, data from our partners at My Bnk found that 2 in 5 young adults are financially illiterate⁴.

During Global Money Week, we focused on empowering young people and building digital skills with a focus on entrepreneurship. We are expanding beyond money management into skills development to ensure we are best serving our communities to drive access, expertise and accelerate financial inclusion with a range of programmes.

Visa's programmes are wide-ranging and seek to impact entrepreneurs, individuals and communities, helping to build stronger financial futures.

From helping younger generations learn the financial basics with educational Marvel Comics, teaming up with HSBC to provide grassroot support to women footballers, and providing free, educational tools through our Practical Business and Practical Money skills platforms, Visa is helping drive financial inclusion, one step at a time.

Over the coming weeks, we will be launching a new financial inclusion hub on visa.co.uk: housing existing content from our financial inclusion programmes as well as new activities. The aim being to showcase Visa's impact while building a platform to bring about positive societal change.

We’re also working with our partners at MyBnk on research exploring the links between financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills, to help better understand how we can meaningfully help different communities take control of their financial futures.

We believe that by working together, we have the power to close the skills gap and drive financial inclusion across Europe.

For more information on Global Money Week, visit: https://globalmoneyweek.org

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