Financial education in young people is essential to make informed decisions about their economic future. A recent report titled “Teenagers and finances. Knowledge and habits in Argentina”in which young people between 14 and 19 years old from all over the country participated, reflected significant transformations in financial habits and highlighted progress in financial inclusion and the use of digital wallets.
One of the most relevant data of this new edition is the reduction in the proportion of adolescents who do not have financial instruments: From 41% recorded in 2022, this figure fell to 9% in 2024, which signals an important democratization in access.
The progress is mainly driven by the mass adoption of digital wallets, whose penetration went from 51% to 89% in just two years, even in adolescents of low socioeconomic status, where its penetration reaches 80%. This paradigm shift is also reflected in the payment preferences: 50% of respondents choose digital means compared to 42% who continue to opt for cash, in clear contrast to the data from 2022, when cash predominated with 86%.
The report belongs to Junior Achievement, the NGO that prepares young people for the global economy, and the Center for Evidence-Based Policy Evaluation (CEPE) of the Di Tella Universitywith the support of BBVA.
Financial inclusion: savings trend among young people
However, this Greater access to financial tools does not mean better habits. Although 78% of adolescents express a positive disposition towards savings, only 49% manage to sustain the habitwhile 29% acknowledge spending their savings earlier than planned.
In relation to gender, Men show a greater propensity to save (57%) than women (42%), and this trend is replicated in women gaps observed between adolescents of different socioeconomic levels, with a difference of 11 percentage points between the high and low levels.
Financial education: what young people think about including it in schools
Another relevant fact is the clear demand from young people: 79% consider it necessary to strengthen financial education in secondary schoolwithout significant differences by socioeconomic level or gender. This need is especially relevant in a context in which 1 in 4 young people does not talk to anyone about their financial plans. In turn, The report highlights the fundamental role of parents as the main source of consultation on financial issuesmentioned by 78% of adolescents. The Internet and teachers occupy second and third place, respectively, as in the first edition of the report.
As for the confidence in managing money, the majority of young people (58%) consider that they manage it wellbut could improve, a pattern that remains stable between 2022 and 2024. The most notable differences are observed by gender: while the 37% of men feel confident in their ability to manage their income, only 21% of women share this perception. Despite this, objective assessments indicate that both genders have similar levels of financial knowledge, with a slight advantage for women at the high level (22% vs. 19%), showing that the gap in confidence contrasts markedly with actual levels of financial knowledge. Nearly 4 in 10 women underestimate their financial knowledge, while a similar proportion of men overestimate it.
Virtual scams
In addition, the investigation addresses an alarming topic: virtual betting and scams. were positioned as the main risks caused by digitalizationenhanced by impulsiveness, lack of dialogue in homes and indifference to legality.
On the one hand, 54% of teenagers report that their friends participate in online gambling, an activity that shows a higher incidence among men and middle and high socioeconomic levels. However, only 7% of young people admit to having gambled. The report shows that this practice is mostly associated with the search for “easy money” (59%), while others link it to entertainment (29%), addictive behaviors (8%) or specific consumption goals (4%).
Virtual casinos are the main betting channels among those who indicated knowing peers who carry out the practice, although sports betting also stands out, mainly among men. There is also a differentiation by socioeconomic level: while in the high SES the recreational aspect gains relevance, in the low SES the search for quick profits is emphasized.
On the other hand, there is evidence of limited critical capacity to evaluate the legitimacy of financial information sources. 56% of those surveyed affirm that they would follow investment advice seen on social networks to allocate their savings. Although they trust family members or experts more, more than half of young people are willing to invest based on recommendations from social networks, platforms in which the proliferation of promises of quick and extraordinary investment returns are increasingly frequent.
Source: Ambito
I’m a recent graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism. I started working as a news reporter for 24 Hours World about two years ago, and I’ve been writing articles ever since. My main focus is automotive news, but I’ve also written about politics, lifestyle, and entertainment.
