Most Americans support requiring high schools to teach financial literacy

Taylor OrthDirector of Survey Data Journalism
May 12, 2022, 7:12 PM GMT+0

In March, Florida state legislators passed legislation requiring a one-semester financial-literacy course for high-school graduation. The new financial-literacy course requirement has been lauded by many but has yet to catch on in other states.

A recent YouGov poll asked more than 8,000 Americans their opinions on whether or not high-school students should be required to take a class on financial literacy that includes lessons on topics such as credit scores, managing debt, and filing taxes. The vast majority of Americans (79%) support adding financial literacy to high-school curriculums, while only 10% oppose doing so.

While opinion on many education policies has been politically polarized in recent years, support for financial-literacy classes is bipartisan: more than 80% of Democrats, of Republicans, and of Independents support such a policy. Younger Americans are less likely to support this requirement than older Americans are, and families earning under $50,000 are less supportive than families with higher incomes are.

— Carl Bialik and Linley Sanders contributed to this article

This poll was conducted on April 28 - 29, 2022, among 8,343 U.S. adults. Explore more on the methodology and data for this poll

Image: Getty

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