A DROITWICH woman has helped pen a series of books to foster better financial understanding among youngsters.
Former deputy head-girl at Droitwich Spa High School, Astra Birch, has worked with co-author, Joanne Bell, and a children’s book publisher – Ruby Tuesday – to create the Money and You series on financial education.
Astra works for her family business, SN Financial Services, based on the Saltway in Droitwich in business development and mortgage advising and is often surprised to find that clients can lack basic financial understanding.
She told the Standard: “So many of my clients come to get a mortgage for the first time and don’t even know how to read their own payslips.
“We believe knowing how to manage your finances is an essential life skill and that financial education should be part of the UK National Curriculum.”
Three in four UK teachers think most young people leave school or college without the money skills they need, according to research from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) released in early 2024.
A total of 96 per cent of those surveyed felt schools should be offering financial education. Previous MaPS research showed that less than half of children (48 per cent) felt they had had a meaningful financial education.
Astra, Joanne and Ruby Tuesday’s Money and You series features financial education on topics such as bank accounts, borrowing money, earning money, paying taxes, spending, budgeting, paying bills, running a business, saving and investing.
The opportunity for Astra to work on the book series came about after she hosted a talk on personal insurance at a networking event in 2022, with the creative process taking nine months or so.
Astra was pregnant for a lot of the process which she says ‘had its challenges’. The Droitwich mother is now hoping to share her books with schools to improve financial understanding among young people, from as early an age as possible.
She added: “I would love to shout about these books and really encourage financial education in schools.
“I’m incredibly proud that one day I’ll be able to show my little boy, just turned one, my books.” The books were launched in October.
Visit https://rubytuesdaybooks.com/product/money-and-you-set/ for more information.
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