Financial literacy of high school students: Evidence from Germany

Erner C, Goedde-Menke M, Oberste M

Abstract

After graduating high school, underage individuals soon face ever more complex and important financial decisions. Pivotal to the development of improved financial literacy programs is a comprehensive examination of financial literacy levels and potentially related factors. The authors conducted a survey among German high school students and found similarly weak performances on standard financial literacy measures as have been documented for other samples. Female students and those with a low level of integration exhibit significantly lower financial literacy across measures. Additionally, basic financial literacy is related to mathematical skills, while sophisticated financial literacy is related to a student's general cognitive aptitude and foreign language skills. Subpopulations identified by these factors should be given attention in the development of more targeted financial literacy programs.