A major study assessing the link between primary-age financial education and social mobility has been launched by RedStart, supported by 17 firms across the financial sector including Legal & General and the Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).

The study will take place over the next seven years and will work with 47 primary schools and around 17,000 children in underprivileged areas to determine whether there is a benefit to having money lessons early in life.

The findings will be used to develop a blueprint for government to follow to improve the financial knowledge of 4.7 million children by 2030.

As part of the first phase of the project, RedSTART will commission Kings College Policy Institute to conduct a longitudinal study evaluating the attitude, behaviour and educational attainment of children receiving financial education from RedSTART versus those not receiving any support.

For schools receiving intervention, the RedSTART Bank app, will allow children to practice buying, selling and saving in a controlled environment, as well as accessing quizzes to complement learning being delivered in-person by volunteers.

Phase two will see RedSTART analyse and publish the findings from the longitudinal study, forecasting the potential consequences of inaction with support from Boston Consulting Group and Robeco.

RedSTART CEO, Sarah Marks, commented: “Research shows that financial habits are learned in early life, and so improving levels of financial literacy in the UK means giving children a strong head start.

"Change the Game seeks to do this in two ways, chiefly by focussing resources on primary-age children in areas identified by the government as being most in need.

“Secondly, by educating the same children over the course of their time at primary school, the programme aims to develop skills made to last, while enabling us to build up concrete evidence on the impact of early, continuous intervention education on children’s financial understanding.”

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