In a new survey conducted by T-mobile, teenagers in the UK showed once again that they are clueless as to the real cost of living. This has many economists concerned for their future when they hit university years and are forced to fend for themselves in the ‘real world.’
According to the survey, one out of every ten British teens had no clue as to the actual cost of groceries and further thought that a loaf of bread cost their parents just 29p. The group least knowledgeable about prices was those aged 13 to 15 with very little understanding of what the cost of living really is.
A T-mobile spokesperson is on record as saying that it is troublesome that our youth of today know so little about how much it costs to buy everyday goods. In the survey, 40% of those questioned gave the price of washing powder at half of what it really cost and over half of all surveyed couldn’t guess the actual price of Marmite.
Further figures show that teenagers are spending more on their mobile phone accounts than they had agreed to with their parents, most spending at least £10 more than agreed. What is even more worrisome is the fact that at least 70% of all teenagers have no clue what their parents are actually paying for the mobile phones that are seemingly attached to their ears.
Because there is such a lack of knowledge of money management in today’s teenagers, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education is on a mission to get financial education courses into the curriculum of UK schools. Having shown how little they know about the cost of living, there is growing concern how this age bracket will handle financial affairs and credit when they reach maturity.
