Proven financial literacy programme for young children comes to Irish schools
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JA More than Money™ to be taught by HSBC volunteers
A joint effort by two local organisations has helped equip children as young as ten years old with the financial literacy skills they need to make wise decisions later in life about spending and saving money. HSBC and JA Ireland brought JA More than Money to more than 1460 local students since January 2010.
Left to right: Carole Walsh, Aisling Fitzsimmons, Ruth Flannery, Simon Wainwright, Aisling Lahiffe, Linda Harnden and Louise Moore.
The programme teaches students about earning, spending, sharing and saving money and about businesses they can start or jobs they can perform to earn money. When assessed by an independent evaluator in 2007, results showed conclusively that the seven- to 11‑year‑old students who participated in this curriculum in the United States demonstrated significantly greater knowledge and retention of financial concepts compared to their non-participating peers.
“We need to reach children early and provide the tools that will help them make wise decisions about money,” said Simon Wainwright, CEO, HSBC Ireland. “The concepts of financial literacy can be reinforced and built upon as these young students become adults and are faced with important financial decisions. It will happen all too soon.”
Local HSBC employees have volunteered to teach JA More than Money at a number of schools across Dublin. This is part of a larger effort by the two organisations to make an impact on financial literacy education around the world. HSBC Holdings plc is due to contribute US$3.4 million over three years to launch the programme.
“To become financially literate, children need the opportunity to acquire financial knowledge over time — knowledge that is commensurate with their age and ability,” said Della Clancy, Executive Director, JA Ireland “JA More than Money is a first step toward achieving a healthy relationship with money.”
About HSBC and JA Worldwide
HSBC and JA Worldwide have a long-standing relationship. The two organisations have collaborated, for example, for 65 years in the United States and more than 25 years in the United Kingdom, where JA Worldwide operates as Young Enterprise. These links are due to be strengthened further in six regions of the world through the nomination of one of HSBC’s most senior executives to each of JA Worldwide’s Regional Operating Center boards.
About HSBC
HSBC is one of Ireland’s leading global banks. Over 30 years, HSBC’s business in Ireland has continued to grow and prosper and now employs over 500 people across four main businesses Securities Services, Corporate Banking, Private Bank and Insurance. It also employs 110 people in Northern Ireland, providing personal financial and commercial banking services through its six branches.
HSBC Holdings plc serves over 100 million customers worldwide through around 10,000 offices in 85 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of some US$2,546 billion at 30 June 2008, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as ‘The world’s local bank’. For more information, visit www.hsbc.ie.
About Junior Achievement® (JA)
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organisation dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school programs for students which focus on three key content areas: financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Today, 138 individual area operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional five million students served by operations in 120 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.
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