{"id":7776,"date":"2017-11-06T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T09:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/per\/?p=7776"},"modified":"2017-11-03T13:30:23","modified_gmt":"2017-11-03T13:30:23","slug":"managing-my-money-for-young-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/per\/?p=7776","title":{"rendered":"Managing My Money for Young Adults"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Martin

Martin Upton, Director, True Potential PUFin, The Open University Business School.<\/p><\/div>\n

Badged open course launched to combat growing debt problem among 16-18 year olds<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Open University Business School\u2019s True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance (True Potential PUFin<\/a>) has joined forces with University Challenge star and Arithmophobia Expert, Bobby Seagull, and MoneySavingExpert\u2019s Martin Lewis, to develop a free badged open course on OpenLearn, specifically designed for the financial education needs of 16 to 18 year olds. <\/p>\n

Managing My Money for Young Adults, (MMM-Y<\/a>), which launched on 3 November, is delivered through video content, animations, case studies, activities and quizzes and provides 24 hours of learning broken into eight bite-sized sessions (see below for further details), to offer learners a strong foundation of personal finance knowledge to help them avoid bad debt in the future. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"University

University Challenge star and Arithmophobia Expert, Bobby Seagull.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why do we need this course?<\/strong>
\nThe motivation for launching the course comes from extensive evidence of the need to provide effective personal finance education for those approaching adulthood. Research by StepChange has highlighted the fast growth of debt problems amongst the under-25s, with recent research conducted by True Potential PUFin, revealing one in seven 18 year olds are already in debt.<\/p>\n

Almost two-thirds (60%) of those in debt admit they owe money to payday loan companies – \u00a3168 each on average. Excluding more traditional student borrowing, these 18 year olds have already racked up debts on credit cards (60%) totalling \u00a314.5 million, unauthorised overdrafts (57%), store cards (49%) and catalogues (49%). <\/p>\n

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of this age group believe this could have been avoided if they\u2019d received more effective personal finance education, with 94% saying it would have been prevented with some form of guidance or support. This follows a recent report from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which warns of a \u2018pronounced\u2019 build up of debt amongst young people as they are forced to borrow money for basic living costs. <\/p>\n

Course Design<\/strong>
\nThe course has been designed so that learners can choose to work on the course at home, perhaps with their families, or in group sessions at school or college, facilitated by teaching staff. Learning is driven by videos and video animations, case studies, activities and quizzes. <\/p>\n

A budgeting web app (available on Managing My Budget<\/a>) and a forum facilitated by experts bring to life the key skills and perspectives of money management. Feedback is provided for all the activities and quizzes in the course, enabling learners to check their progress and understanding.<\/p>\n

There are two types of quiz: short practice quizzes and two longer badge quizzes at the end of Sessions 4 and 8. Completion of all the sessions and a score of 50% or more in the two badge quizzes make learners eligible for a Statement of Participation and digital badge, details of which are in the Introduction and guidance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just help when it comes to managing debts that young adults require. Guidance is also needed to understand how to budget effectively, how to choose between an array of financial products, how to use credit cards properly, how to understand taxation and how to manage finances when leaving home to go into higher education or to take up a job, and much more besides in this changing and challenging financial environment. <\/p>\n

The course content, and its sequencing, matches the timeline of young people\u2019s financial experiences including:<\/p>\n

\"Managing

Managing My Money for Young Adults, The Open University.<\/p><\/div>\n