>Most Scots are ill-equipped to manage their money or educate their children about finances, research has suggested.
Almost 90% of adults said they have never received any formal lessons on issues such as budgeting and saving.
More than two thirds of those surveyed said that classes would have helped them cope better when dealing with banks and other organisations.
The research was commissioned by the Royal Bank of Scotland’s education initiative Face2Face with Finance.
Those behind the programme, launched in schools in 2004, said Scotland faces a gap in financial know-how as the current generation struggles to equip children with the money skills they need.
Baroness Denise Kingsmill, chair of the Face2Face with Finance advisory panel, said: “This latest research reveals that there is a critical need to focus on financial education in schools to ensure that we give the teenagers of today the skills they require to develop as adults who are capable of making sensible, informed money decisions.”
The Royal Bank is launching a new project, the Money for Life Panel, that will look at the attitudes of secondary school pupils to finance and money management.
It is asking Scots aged between 11 and 18 years to take part by visiting the website www.moneyforlifepanel.co.uk.
Baroness Kingsmill said: “Without ongoing research in this area it will be impossible to meet the needs of the next generation and it is of paramount importance that we increase our understanding of the financial challenges they face and address this knowledge gap now.”
