Teachers: is there a general subject that teaches topics including rights on marriage vs co-habitation, pensions and life knowledge, etc

[DontDrinkDontSmokeWhatDoIDo]

And if there isn't, AIBU to think there should be?

It's shocking to see on here that there are still regular posts where (usually) a mum who has had children with a partner and isn't married to them, is horrified to find out they have little no rights to property etc on splitting.

And posters who say 'marriage is just a piece of paper', not realising the protection it gives them (or the impact it could have on them, if they are the higher earner).

Etc etc.

Also the number of posts in the money section where people haven't started a pension (however small) and are now in difficulty.

Or those who haven't claimed child benefit because their partner is over the threshold but didn't realised they themselves would benefit from National Insurance contributions if they claims but declined the benefit element.

Or mums that stopped worked when children came along, 'encouraged' by their partner to do so, who now find themselves unskilled and under pressure?

So many life skills / knowledge about choices seem to have passed people by.

Is there a subject that covers things like these, and if not, AIBU to think there should be?

Sorry, title should have said, vs co-habitation, pensions, finance & life skills etc.

Why is everything the responsibility of schools??

How about we, as parents, start teaching our kids life skills such as these?

@UrsulaBee

Why is everything the responsibility of schools??

How about we, as parents, start teaching our kids life skills such as these?

Because the parents may not have the knowledge either? And children don't listen to parents in many cases?

I'd have called that topic Parents myself.

Schools can't be expected to plug every hole in society.

I don't think everything you listed should be on the curriculum as it were. Learning about pensions, tax etc yes but co-habitation, giving up work to stay home and all that shouldn't be the responsibility of schooling.

If parents don’t have the knowledge they should go and educate themselves.

Because the parents may not have the knowledge either? And children don't listen to parents in many cases?

Do you think those students who don't listen to parents will all listen to teachers?

We did Social Studies in Year 10 and 11 which covered things like applying for jobs, relationships, the age different things are legal etc. It wasn’t a GCSE subject but was compulsory for us. I quite enjoyed the lessons but I can’t really remember specific things we were taught.

@AmyandPhilipfan

We did Social Studies in Year 10 and 11 which covered things like applying for jobs, relationships, the age different things are legal etc. It wasn’t a GCSE subject but was compulsory for us. I quite enjoyed the lessons but I can’t really remember specific things we were taught.

I'd have loved this - I wonder if there's a general topic like this in most schools?

I do remember learning about interest on credit cards - which was helpful, I guess.

I teach RS, which is often much maligned on here, but part of the ethics GCSE which many schools make compulsory includes these topics and whilst the syllabus might direct more theoretical knowledge Vjrisoan view on divorce etc, most lessons branch off into the more practical side. It's also covered in PSHE. But I agree with pp that actually it's not schools' job to cover all this and most of my knowledge on the practical side comes from my own experiences. When I got divorced, had kids etc I researched things myself. People need o take some personal responsibility for finding out how their choices will affect them. It's not hard to find out.

That should read 'Christian view on divorce'

Yes definitely a subject
Things your parents tell you..
It's pretty much a home project tho

Sorry but these are things we should as adults educate ourselves on. Unlike years ago there is all information you need online. Pshe lessons do include some issues but it simply isn't the job of teachers to tell us these things. Nobody taught me them, I looked it up, asked questions and formed my own judgement all pre internet

PSHEE lessons are usually more concerned with things that actually affect the children at the time or in the very near future - grooming, gangs, sexting, contraception, healthy relationships, mental health, hygiene and physical health, budgeting, bank accounts, job applications, etc - not telling girls that they need to get married to ensure that when the husband runs off or turns out to be an arsehole, they are entitled to half the house (and automatically telling the boys that if they marry a woman they risk losing half the house, so they know exactly what to refuse to do in the future)

The thing is, when you teach students about pensions or taxes, by the time they’re in the work force and really taking an interest in those thing the information’s way out of date! I got my first proper job with pension payments etc at 22 - what use would a couple of lessons at 14 have been to me then? It was another few years until I got a mortgage and I wasn’t drawing on what I learnt at school 12 years before at that point (not to mention the housing/mortgage situation in 2006 was very different to 1994)

Also, a lot of things people claim they weren’t taught at school were, and always have been, on the syllabus. Newsflash - not everyone pays attention or remembers everything, especially when it relates to adult stuff you know you won’t need for years.

What do you suggest that schools take off the curriculum in order to fit all that in?

We cover a lot of that under PSHE, but not in great detail.Whilst it's a brief introduction to various topics, there has to be some personal responsibility on adults here.

It doesn't take much to Google Child Benefit, and it's common sense to check what happens if you give your job up.

Unfortunately on countless threads where posters point out the usual stuff about NI contributions, no such thing as common law wife, financial security, not being entitled to the house if you're not on the deeds, marriage is a legal contract, it's more than a piece of paper, etc etc, there's always dozens and dozens of posters getting defensive about the fact they've been with DP 17 years and their married friends have been divorced, don't worry about the smug married ones, blah, blah, blah.
It's not cool to suggest adults make their own financial plans, because when it goes wrong you can argue it's unfair that property doesn't transfer to cohabiting partners automatically.

PSHE covers all of those things. Most of what you mention is now statutory content under the new RSHE guidance

Having taught finance in PSHE many times I can honestly say it doesn't sink in. We have a local bank come in and deliver it with our help - what they provide is great but at 15/16 the kids are not interested in the slightest.

Pensions isn't statutory but good PSHE curriculums will cover it as part of personal finance. The problem comes when schools don't prioritise PSHE as a subject e.g. having it taught in form time so only the basics are covered

I can see your point but pretty much all of society's problems seem to be outsourced to schools to fix.

There simply isn't the time or money to do everything demanded of schools.

Besides which, the absolving of responsibility towards others to do things for is disempowers people to take responsibility for their own knowledge and education on life. And that of their children.

Let's face it, the information has never been easier to find than it is today with the internet, and yet it's someone else who must find it for people and their families?

It was called PSE when I was at school and we did cover things like relationships, sex, mental health, hygiene, marriage, divorce, bank accounts etc. but it is not information that I have remembered much of going into adulthood. As I have moved through the years, Internet access has increased and like a lot of people I google what I need to know at a specific time. If I couldn't understand the information I would be able to access where I could get help. People do have to take responsibility for themselves. Schools already plug a lot of gaps for parents, parents do still actually need to parent though and lead by example.

Perhaps, Citizenship?

I studied money and housekeeping in Home Economics

Credit card rates and APR in Home Ec and Mathematics

What were then the current laws about marriage and the socioeconomic problems women face in Sociology, Home Ec (anything to keep us pyromaniacs away from fire) and French (teacher had a breakdown after a pretty savage divorce)

I dont think its schools responsibility but also because at that stage in life very few kids would be interested or even remember any of it. These things become relevant to you at different stages in life.

You could say the same to women who come on here shocked about childbirth and the reality of sleepless nights and breastfeeding problems. When i volunteered at NCT classes years ago a breastfeeding counsellor told me how womens eyes glazed over on her sessions because they were so focused on the pregnancy and birth they had very little interest in what she was saying.

In the other parts - today in PSHE students are taught/given information about sexual health, consent, porn, LGBTQ+, relationships etc.