Understanding Educators’ Impact on Financial Literacy of Youth Populations: Strength of Relationship between the Basic Financial Knowledge of Educators and Their Willingness to Teach Financial Correlated Topics

Abstract

Adolescent and student populations within the United States have been significantly impacted by attributes that have contributed to a recent decline in financial literacy rates. Correlated factors such as age, parental guidance, quality of education, socioeconomic information, personal experiences and motivation have further contributed to this decline in understanding of financial knowledge. Unfortunately these circumstances present emerging implications of poor spending, debt accumulation, decreases in credit scores, tax filing difficulties, young adult bankruptcies, and a lack of desire to prosper throughout the financial world have become apparent as the severity of the issue is heightened. Individuals throughout the nation are not able to be exposed to the same levels of quality education, thus prompting the expedited decay in economic behaviors and financial information. Understanding the factors associated with this decline is essential to adopting solutions to assist those who are unable to do themselves. This financial regression case study analyzes the perceptions and basic knowledge of 204 members of Educational District A regarding financial literacy teachings and correlated financial topics, attempting to identify the logistic relationship between the financial knowledge of educators and their willingness to teach financial courses. The conducted study observed the personal beliefs of educators on financial teachings, considered their willingness to teach financial courses throughout their respective district, and assessed their basic financial knowledge, establishing a strong and significant relationship between their basic financial capabilities and their inclination to teach within their respective district. According to the results of the logistic regression analysis, data points indicate that the willingness of educators to teach financial topics is proportional to their basic economic capabilities.