What Do Children with Above-Average Abilities Understand About Financial Literacy?

Eulália Santos (), Fernando Oliveira Tavares and Cátia Maurício
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Eulália Santos: School of Education and Social Sciences, Polytechnic of Leiria, Campus 1, Rua Dr. João Soares, Apartado 4045, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
Fernando Oliveira Tavares: REMIT—Research on Economics, Management and Information Technologies, Department of Economics and Management, Universidade Portucalense, 4200-027 Porto, Portugal
Cátia Maurício: School of Education and Social Sciences, Polytechnic of Leiria, Campus 1, Rua Dr. João Soares, Apartado 4045, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal

JRFM, 2025, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: Metaphors help to simplify complex concepts, making them more accessible and understandable for children. Children can build a more concrete understanding of these concepts by associating abstract financial ideas with familiar situations or objects. The present study aims to explore what children with above-average abilities understand by financial literacy, using words and images as tools of expression. During a workshop, 22 children with above-average abilities participated in two tasks, one individual and one group task. The results showed that “save” (90.9%), “money” (63.9%), “invest” (59.1%), and “bank” (54.5%) are the words most strongly associated with the concept of financial literacy among the children. Regarding images, money ( M = 1.77), a clock or calendar ( M = 2.50), a pig ( M = 2.75), and a house ( M = 2.84) were identified as the most representative symbols of financial literacy for this group of children. In the group task, children perceive financial literacy mainly as managing and using money to satisfy needs and desires. The results can inform educators about the need to adapt educational materials to match children’s level of understanding better, promoting more effective and accessible financial education.

Keywords: financial education; financial literacy; decision-making; saving; money (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C E F2 F3 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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