The FSW financial driving license has been strengthening students’ financial skills since spring 2020
Vienna (OTS) – Inflation, inflation and questionable online trends such as #klarna Debts preoccupy the lives of young people in Vienna. In order to counteract this and also provide a preventative offer against over-indebtedness, the debt advice service of the Vienna Social Fund (FSW) has been offering financial education in polytechnics and vocational schools since 2020.
On Tuesday, for the fifth time, the certificate for the FSW financial driving license was presented to students at the Vienna Chamber of Labor Education Center in the presence of City Councilor for Social Affairs, Health and Sport Peter Hacker, Education Director Heinrich Himmer, FSW Managing Director Anita Bauer and Gabriele Zgubic, responsible for Consumer policy in the AK Vienna, awarded.
“I congratulate the students on passing their financial driving license. Young people in particular need solid financial education in order to be able to make correct decisions about the money they will later earn or already earn. With the knowledge from the FSW financial driving license, you have an important basis for a self-determined life. In Vienna, over 6,800 young people can already get started confidently.”
Councilor for Social Affairs Peter Hacker encourages the graduates.
What does life cost? Financial driving license explains things
Gudrun Steinmann, head of financial education at FSW debt advice, explains the offer for students: “With the financial driving license, essential financial education is taught in five modules. We address fundamental issues in young people’s lives. How much does it cost to have a car or move into your own apartment? We also address the social pressure from the peer group or through social media. Young people are increasingly being enticed to consume by online trends. That’s why the workshops always focus on how young people can make thoughtful consumption decisions without running the risk of becoming over-indebted
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One in five people who come to FSW debt advice is under 30 years old. “Buy now pay later” offers that tempt people to make multiple online purchases on installment payments are part of the over-indebtedness of young people. Viral trends like #klarna Debts also make their contribution. In contrast to this is #loudbudgeting, the trend on social media in which young people talk openly about their financial decisions and why they don’t want to afford expensive leisure activities. “Especially because of the multitude of trends and influences to which young people are massively exposed, preventive offers such as the FSW financial driving license are needed to protect young people from excessive indebtedness in later adult life.”
emphasizes Steinmann.
6,800 students already have their financial driving license in their pockets
Since spring 2020, FSW debt advice has been proactively going to schools with the FSW financial driving license and teaching basic financial skills to young people. So far, 60 schools and 402 classes and over 6,800 students have been reached. FSW managing directors Anita Bauer and Michael Rosenberg also congratulated the graduates and agreed: “With the financial driving license, the FSW provides an important foundation in financial education for the young people in this city. This is how we protect the Viennese adults of tomorrow from a life in a debt spiral.”
Director of Education Heinrich Himmer also knows the importance of financial literacy: “Giving young people the tools they need for life is the school’s mission. Knowledge about money is an important protection against financial problems and debts, especially in times of inflation.”
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“Issues such as price increases and inflation are becoming more and more of a concern for young people. It is therefore all the more important to acquire important knowledge about finances at the start of adult life. The Vienna Chamber of Labor has therefore supported the financial driving license in Vienna since its introduction. So that young people can start their professional lives by dealing with finances independently.”
emphasizes Gabriele Zgubic, head of consumer policy at the Vienna Chamber of Labor.
The financial driving license is carried out in Vienna by the Vienna Debt Advisory Service of the Vienna Social Fund in cooperation with the Vienna Chamber of Labor and in cooperation with the Vienna Education Directorate.
About the FSW financial driving license in Vienna
The free financial driving license is aimed at young people in polytechnic schools and vocational schools, as they are about to embark on financial independence. In 5 modules of 2 teaching units each, students acquire financial skills. Topics such as your own account, forms of financing, insurance, debts or purchasing behavior and advertising strategies are dealt with in a practical manner. Employees of Debt Counseling Vienna lead through 3 modules, 2 modules are taught in class via e-learning. At the end, the students receive a certificate – the FSW financial license. The initiator of the financial driving license was the Debtor Aid Upper Austria; the federal states of Vienna, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Lower Austria and Carinthia are already successfully implementing the concept. More information at www.finanzbildung.wien
Questions & Contact:
Julia Riedler
Press spokesperson for the Vienna Social Fund
Tel.: + 43 676 8289 20924
E-Mail: presse@fsw.at