Teaching and methodology 3 April 2026 · 2 min read

Almost 1 in 5 15-year-olds don't reach the baseline level of financial literacy

In the PISA 2022 financial literacy assessment, 18% of 15-year-olds across the OECD fell below the baseline level: they couldn't reliably apply financial knowledge to everyday situations, such as reading a bill or comparing two offers. We're not talking about investing or long-term planning, but the minimum needed to get by in everyday economic life.

What PISA measures in financial literacy and what "basic level" means

The PISA financial literacy assessment places students in five performance levels. Level 2 is the baseline: the minimum needed to apply what they know to everyday situations, such as recognising the value of a simple budget, reading simple financial documents or making basic purchase decisions.

In the 2022 round, whose results the OECD published in 2024, 18% of students across the OECD fell below that threshold. That doesn't mean they won't go on to further study or that they lack ability. It means nobody has taught them, step by step, how money works.

The real situations these students will face unprepared

Students who finish compulsory education below the basic level of financial literacy will, within two or three years, face situations that require exactly the skills they lack: their first salary, their first tax return, their first rental contract, their first credit card.

Many of these contracts and products include clauses that a financially literate adult would flag as a problem. An adult without that literacy signs them without understanding them, and the consequences pile up for years.

The link between low financial literacy and the use of high-cost credit is well documented.

What sets apart the schools that improve these results

Schools whose students do best in financial literacy share three traits: they cover financial content regularly (not as a one-off event), they use active methods that go beyond lecturing, and they connect concepts to real situations in their students' lives.

It isn't about adding a new subject. It's about bringing a financial angle into existing subjects: applied maths, economics, social sciences or cross-curricular projects. The schools that do it well build it in gradually, with a sequence designed by level and age.

The results are measurable: a meta-analysis of 76 randomised experiments (Kaiser et al., Journal of Financial Economics, 2022) found that financial education improves financial knowledge and behaviours, with effects comparable to other educational interventions.