Why don’t they teach things like taxes, budgeting etc in school?

[Soubriquet]

Don’t say it’s because it’s the parents job because my parents were terrible and are in a lot of debt, so is dh’s so we haven’t learnt from them at all and because of that, we are mildly in debt but no where near as much

Why don’t schools teach these sort of things?

Because schools have enough to do and parents need to be remain responsible for their children.
Having a lesson or two in school doesn’t over ride parental role models so would be unlikely to make a huge difference anyway.

Schools do teach those things and is explicitly mentioned in the National Curriculum and that some schools teach as PSHE, Citizenship or Skills for Life lessons (sometimes have a different name)

Trouble is, as you have pointed out OP, many young people forget or don’t fully listen etc.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/908347/SECONDARY_national_curriculum_-_Citizenship.pdf

I'm teaching that right now...

Well, the maths curriculum is incredibly useful in being the first rung for the many, many mathematicians and engineers and the like we desperately and increasingly need for a high tech, high skill base economy so writing it off as ‘pointless’ might be a bit short-sighted if you like, you know, bridges and electricity and new medicines and computers and stuff.

But it’s not for everyone and we’re missing a trick by presenting it as solely theoretical and impenetrable, to the point where ‘I’m rubbish at maths’ seems almost to be a badge of pride - and at least totally normalised.

Ds1 does core maths alongside his a levels which is all this sort of stuff. It’s the equivalent of an AS level.

They also did lots of it in PSHE over the years. They even taught them how to plan and book a holiday

They do

They do teach those things. I’m a teacher and I taught a finance module in the summer just gone. Students learnt about mortgages, financial planning, taxes, bank accounts, borrowing money, interest rates… all sorts of things really.

We did this course in 1998 with Nat west

If your kids do NCS then they do some budgeting tasks. They have to come up with a list of ingredients and buy them cook for Eve et one for 5 days. (Like they did on Big Brother if you remember that) That sort of tasks is good for y11-13 year olds as they are often close to going to uni so need to know

Business Studies covers some financial things like what is a standing order vs a direct debit or how the tax system works but this requires people to choose it as an option and it's not universally appealing

I use YouTube for house maintenance . It's a good way for me to check whether or not a task is a DIY or tradesmen job and I've looked up some really basic questions like which way to turn a lightbulb if you want to unscrew it. YouTube and social media like TikTok has lots of videos on how to clean things etc

It I'd pointless when late teens are still bejng forced to sit through ratios and triangles when they hate maths by now, don't know their times tables and will be independent adults soon.

Even then BS doesn't really want cover investing.

I teach Y3 and we cover this in PSHE.

Depends on the school I suppose.

We had a bank when I was in school, branch visited twice a month & we could deposit or withdraw savings. We were taught not to apply for credit when we turned 18 & how all the extra charges add up.

In 4th year, we ran a business & learned about production costs, profit & loss & the many issues faced running a business.

My kids school have different events & they know I've been in to speak to them about budgeting & how credit cards & loans work. I even educated the teacher on something she didn't know.

@KitchenKrisis

It I'd pointless when late teens are still bejng forced to sit through ratios and triangles when they hate maths by now, don't know their times tables and will be independent adults soon.

Not passing maths GCSE really restricts choices these days. I'm not sure if compound and simple interest are on the foundations maths paper but if they are then presumably they must explain interest as a concept

My children had visits from a bank in primary. Oldest had a visit from Barclays while the other had a visit from Santander. They did some money related activities( not sure what but they both mentioned it so must have been memorable). Think they were y5 ish so they'd be able to work out some interest rates and do some adding and subtracting (debits and credits)

I do teach all of these things. As part of pshe. As well as relationships, sex and health education. 2 hours a week yrs 7-9. 1 hour a week year 10 and 11.

@Animood

The maths curriculum is so pointless.

Working out the angle of a triangle or the circumference of a circle... I mean come on. Who needs to know that???

Taxes, accounts, budgets. Credit cards, loans, pensions. This is what we actually need to know.

Geometry is very useful. You might want to know how to do the circumference of a circle when sewing things and angles when making brackets. All you need to know about: Tax - it is taken from your wage Budgeting - spend less than you earn Credit card - pay it back or pay interest Pensions - auto enrolment Maths needs teaching, this stuff doesn’t really.

I would have liked to learn how to use power tools and a sewing machine...not at the same time, but it would be more useful than algebra or french
🤷‍♀️

We did. It was so fucking boring. Honestly that’s all I can remember. But then we were all 15 and didn’t get jobs into our 20s anyway.

I agree that school is for skills like reading, writing and arithmetic.

Anyone who was not taught maths so that they could follow it, I would encourage to use some of the further education courses which can be very good.

A very different proposition to maths as taught in schools. Good luck

Geometry is very useful. You might want to know how to do the circumference of a circle when sewing things and angles when making brackets.
All you need to know about:
Tax - it is taken from your wage
Budgeting - spend less than you earn
Credit card - pay it back or pay interest
Pensions - auto enrolment
Maths needs teaching, this stuff doesn’t really.

How many people sew things in a circle 😂 I mean how many people sew anything... ever!

Same goes for making brackets. Who does that? Machines in China make brackets not humans in the UK.

There are a lot lot more things to understand about the things you have listed!

Taxes- important to understand when deciding who to vote for. There are many more types of tax than income tax: inheritance tax, stamp duty, corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains tax.
Credit card - there is a massive difference in a 1% credit card and a 31% credit card. People need to know that so they can make smart choices and get into crippling debt.
Pensions- there are ways to increase your auto enrolment. There are choices of pension providers. Different company pensions make a difference when choosing a job.

I think your post shows that people do need to be taught about this stuff!

I can't remember if I did but have never had a problem budgeting, saving etc.

When I moved abroad I got an apprenticeship and had to make a tax declaration (it's not taken at the source here). I rang my chartered accountant dad to ask for help and he reasonably pointed out that he didn't know the language or tax laws for this country! So I asked a teacher at my business school and she helped me. After that first time I could do it by myself no problem. And if I did need help then, shock horror, there are helplines to ring...

There is so much help out there on the internet etc that I don't know why people can't get the information. And if you're still not understanding it then a few lessons at secondary school wouldn't change anything.

@Animood

*Geometry is very useful. You might want to know how to do the circumference of a circle when sewing things and angles when making brackets. All you need to know about: Tax - it is taken from your wage Budgeting - spend less than you earn Credit card - pay it back or pay interest Pensions - auto enrolment Maths needs teaching, this stuff doesn’t really.*

How many people sew things in a circle 😂 I mean how many people sew anything... ever!

Same goes for making brackets. Who does that? Machines in China make brackets not humans in the UK.

There are a lot lot more things to understand about the things you have listed!

Taxes- important to understand when deciding who to vote for. There are many more types of tax than income tax: inheritance tax, stamp duty, corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains tax.
Credit card - there is a massive difference in a 1% credit card and a 31% credit card. People need to know that so they can make smart choices and get into crippling debt.
Pensions- there are ways to increase your auto enrolment. There are choices of pension providers. Different company pensions make a difference when choosing a job.

I think your post shows that people do need to be taught about this stuff!

I imagine most people put up a shelf at some point in their lives, so brackets are useful. None of the stuff you mentioned needs teaching, you learn it as you go. I would have been offended if a teacher thought I needed telling that 31% was more expensive than 1%!

They do now teach this. There’s a qualification called Core Maths that does it!