It seems innate for children to mimic their parents; to some extent a little ‘mini-me’ for adults, with children looking up to them as their superheroes. When a child starts to comprehend words and speak for themselves, parents become more careful about what they say around them, for fears they would repeat it in public. Like watching your mouth around the little tykes parents should start watching their wallet and spending habits around kids. It’s no secret that a large majority of UK citizens are deep in debt, just like it’s also no secret that kids are impressionable and are picking up on their parents’ poor spending habits.
A recent study shows that the UK may be breeding a country full of debtors, debt that in the future is likely to surpass the level of debt currently experienced by adults; these debt culprits: your kids. Evidently, 90% of teens see credit cards as easy money, one in twenty not seeing a need to pay what they spend back. While, 25% of 18 year-olds realised the money would need to be paid back, but by their parents, not them. Debt at such a young age will most likely lead to a life of debt woes and possibly bankruptcy.
It’s becoming more and more obvious that UK teenagers are simply not educated enough in money management , which brings up the notion of financial education being added to the school curriculum. But like anything else we learn in life, we remember most from what is learned at home from what we see our parents do.
