Why is it important to teach kids about money from a young age?
The earlier a child learns about money, savings and investment, the better money managers they will become. Such skills help children to understand the difference between earning, spending and saving, making them better money managers who’re able to budget. It also helps children understand the value of money at an early age and help them make better financial decisions.
How does your upbringing and ‘money conversations’ from childhood affect you as an adult?
Money conversations from childhood help people grow into adults that have a healthy relationship with money. Research shows that money habits as well such as getting an allowance, helping the caregivers in the home budget for household items also teaches the principle of efficiently allocating scarce resources. These all contribute to increasing the growing child’s financial sophistication, thus giving them a better financial outcome later in life.
Why are initiatives such as ‘Mmmm Yum Kidz Tuckshop’ important?
With the high unemployment of the youth and lack of entrepreneurial and financial literacy in our schools, it’s important to have such initiatives to make sure that we teach the children skills at a young age. When they grow up they’ll be able to create employment for themselves and make sound financial decisions.
What are you hoping to achieve with the campaign?
We hope our involvement in this initiative will teach the participants business principles usually reserved for an MBA program, introduce them to real-life entrepreneurship and money management tensions, and give them push to start their own business. Ultimately, we want to positively contribute to the learners’ financial outlook.
Is the spirit of entrepreneurship at this age important?
Learning about the spirit of entrepreneurship at a young age will allow children to learn all types of concepts focused on starting and operating a company. This can help prepare them for the real world where they’ll have to think on their own and come up with solutions to all types of problems. Employers look for candidates who’re entrepreneurial, think outside the box and can work on their own with minimal supervision.
