Over 1,000 people have now signed the Moneywise Kids and Cash petition, a campaign that aims to get personal financial education onto the National Curriculum.

Moneywise believes that far too many young adults today leave school unable to make sound financial decisions. With the cost of living increasing by the day and record numbers of people spiralling into debt, the Kids and Cash campaign believes schools have a crucial role to play in teaching children the financial facts of life.

If personal finance education were to be taught alongside key subjects such as English, science and maths, more young adults would be armed with the skills to manage their money better - from the importance of budgeting and not getting into debt, to how to manage their income and make it go further by saving or investing.

And it’s not just Moneywise that supports this idea. Recent research by the Association of Investment Companies found that over 90% of parents and teachers think that children should be taught about personal finance at school.

But despite the government unveiling an £11.5 million three-year programme called ‘My Money’ to help give children a better understanding of money, the initiative is not compulsory. “The ‘My Money’ programme will make very little difference to the financial capability of our children,” says Phil Hall, spokesperson for the ifs School of Finance. “Much more needs to be done to make sure the next generation are financially literate – even the Financial Services Authority’s own research shows this.”

Rachel Lacey, editor of Moneywise is delighted with the support the Kids and Cash campaign has generated so far. “It’s great that so many of our readers have signed our petition,” she says. “However, we still need more signatures to put pressure on the government. Moneywise believes that all children should leave school understanding how to manage their finances properly and we don’t think current initiatives will guarantee that this happens. Rather than squeezing the subject into PSHE and other subjects, children should be having regular lessons in personal finance.”

If you are concerned about the lack of financial knowledge of the next generation and want to help get personal finance education onto the National Curriculum, you can sign our Kids and Cash petition on the prime minister’s website here. You can also read more about our campaign on the Kids and Cash page.

• Kids and Cash