ROME (ITALPRESS) – The level of financial and insurance literacy among Italians is insufficient, and gender and age gaps are still significant. This is what emerges from the third edition of Edufin Index, the Observatory on the financial and insurance awareness and behavior of Italians.The Observatory, the results of which were presented during an event at the Senate, relates the financial and insurance knowledge of Italians to their behavior. The 2024 data highlights the need to improve the level of financial and insurance education of Italians, which is still insufficient. Again this year, the research investigated the financial and insurance knowledge of the Italian population, based on a sample of 4,000 respondents, with a special focus on the situation of women and young people. “Financial and insurance education has a decisive impact on the country’s well-being and social equity. Only adequately prepared citizens are in a position to make conscious and informed choices, not influenced by emotionalism,” said Davide Passero, CEO of Alleanza Assicurazioni and Country Chief Marketing & Product Officer of Generali Italia. “The third edition of Edufin Index confirms the need for a choral action by private operators, institutions and associations to improve the current level of knowledge of the population so as to reach the level of sufficiency and overcome the realities of fragility identified by our Report, young people and women in primis. In this process, the role of financial and insurance advisor can be interpreted in the feminine and be a decisive factor in promoting women’s financial empowerment. This is also why, in the Alliance, we decided to put our advisors at the center of our National Financial and Insurance Education Plan: they are 50 percent of our organization and represent the role model for other women promoted in the project “Women Talking to Women about Money”.In recent years, we have organized more than 6,000 events involving more than 380,000 people, half of them women.” Entering into the details of the report, edited by Alleanza Assicurazioni, a Generali Italia company, together with the Mario Gasbarri Foundation and with the scientific collaboration of SDA Bocconi, we read that the level of Edufin Index in 2024 stands at 56, where the maximum is 100: it therefore fails to reach sufficiency (60 out of 100). In the past 12 months, in particular, the number of people experiencing financial and insurance illiteracy has increased by two percentage points, rising to 12 percent of the population and returning to the levels recorded in 2022. After the significant increase in those reaching sufficiency (+7 percent) recorded in 2023, the financial and insurance literacy of Italians has stabilized in the last year: today only 40 percent of the population reaches sufficiency, up from 41 percent in 2023. In particular, the Observatory certifies that in 2024 there was a physiological stabilization after the growth of 2023 and, at the same time, a slight worsening of the figure assessing behavior in the area of investments and financial choices. The exceptional macroeconomic environment of the past year, with rates and mortgages rising steadily, had shifted the media’s attention to this issue and made it a priority for citizens to stay informed and take care of their finances to avoid the risk of finding themselves in situations of uncertainty, if not unexpected economic fragility. In detail, according to the research, the best results are among men, those aged 45-64, and residents in the Northeast. In 2024, a gender gap is confirmed around 5 points (men 58 vs. women 53) and a geographic gap between North and South around 4 points; on the other hand, the generation gap increases, with the very young (18-24) having scores around 7 points lower than those of adults (35-64).For women, according to the report, reduced interest in the topic and low propensity to inform themselves remain key factors contributing to their lower financial and insurance literacy compared to men. However, the gender gap is also influenced by women’s low decision-making autonomy, which originates in family context and dynamics. According to the Observatory, women continue to be perceived as primarily responsible for household care, which reduces the amount of time they can devote to their financial autonomy.Research 2024 sought to relate the figure of own literacy with status (single or partnered) and economic relevance of women within their household. Five macro-groups emerged.Group 1: Young and independent singles (18-24 years old, North and Central residents, employed and with low incomes); Group 2: Neo-singles (over 65, majority retired and widowed, Northern residents, low incomes and education) ; Group 3: Paired women dependent on their partners (45-64 years old, housewives, unemployed, Southern and Island residents, low incomes and education); Group 4: Paired women with similar or equal income (35-44 years old, predominantly in the North, employed and self-employed, medium-high and high incomes, majority of college graduates); Group 5: Paired women with main income (35-44 years old, self-employed, medium-high incomes and college graduates)The Report showed that when women are single and are in a condition of necessary autonomy in managing their finances (Group 1), they achieve the same Edufin results as men. In contrast, women in couples tend to lose decision-making autonomy. Even when they are the main income earners within the couple and possess a high level of financial literacy, they are inclined to share major financial choices with their partners. When analyzing the allocation of family responsibilities and tasks, a consistently unfavorable picture emerges for Italian women. The research confirms that even when women earn more than their partners (Group 5), in 60 percent of cases they are still fully responsible for household management.In this context, the Report highlights the contribution of consultants in bringing women closer to financial and insurance issues, thus promoting women’s financial empowerment. In fact, female advisors are considered by all to be at least equal to or better than their male colleagues both in terms of technical-financial preparation and relational approach.Young people (18-24 years old) also remain among the population groups that still fall short (Edufin Index level 50), but compared to previous generations, Generation Z has a higher level of financial socialization, the indicator that tells how financial values, knowledge and behaviors are acquired and developed in the family (Generation Z registers 5 points higher than Baby Boomers). Notably, today, compared to the past, parents spend more time on financial education toward their children.Compared to previous generations, today’s young people are beginning to manage money sooner, despite the fact that most receive it only in times of need. In Generation Z, the gender gap is narrowing compared to previous generations, but the percentage of girls receiving “pocket money” on a regular basis still remains low (20 percent Gen Z girls vs. 16 percent Baby Boomers girls).Teaching financial education in schools is therefore of paramount importance in bridging the gap for young people, a need that the family alone cannot meet. For this reason, Alleanza Assicurazioni, in collaboration with BVA Doxa, conducted a survey involving about 600 parents and 400 teachers to find out their opinion on the novelty of the Capital Law, which provides for the introduction of financial education in school curricula at all levels within the civic education program, starting with the current school year. Most teachers and parents are very supportive of this novelty: 8 out of 10 parents believe that financial education in school can positively affect their children’s education, regardless of age. Parents also rate the level of preparation of teachers in teaching these subjects more positively than the teachers themselves and believe that, the key topics of financial education at school are managing pocket money, protecting against scams, and understanding the economic system.In 2024, the Edufin Index will be enriched by a new initiative aimed at recognizing “best practices” at the national level developed by nonprofit organizations in Italy for the promotion and dissemination of financial topics to the female audience. In a logic of impact, with the ‘Edufin Index Donnà Award’ Country Sustainability & Social Responsibility of Generali Italia together with Alleanza Assicurazioni in fact wanted to broaden the already rich public-private partnership activated around Edufin Index and the Third Sector, recognizing its fundamental role as an engine of cohesion and social innovation. During the presentation of the Report, representatives of the winning organizations took the stage: Clotilde Rossi and Maria Luciana Scandola for the San Zeno Charity Association ODV ETS, Catia Feoli and Alessandra Avanzi for CADMI – Casa di Accoglienza delle Donne Maltrattate, Manuela Prandini and Mary Cris Cocjin for Penso a Te – Educazione Finanziaria al Femminile APS.Thanks to these initiatives, women in conditions of extreme fragility, migrants and refugees, and women victims of violence have been able to acquire useful skills and enter solidarity networks that can reduce their situations of distress.Alleanza’s “National Financial and Insurance Education Plan” continues to spread financial and insurance culture among Italians.Alleanza Assicurazioni is committed to a mission that has seen it play a leading role for years: that of increasing the financial and insurance education of Italians, an important social role in line with the goals of the UN Agenda to 2030.Since 2020, Alleanza has launched a “National Financial and Insurance Education Program,” articulated in free seminars that in recent years have registered 380,000 participants in 6,200 events, divided between “Protection Day,” “Investment Day” and “Retirement Day.” In addition to the territorial events, the editorial plan involving social media, radio, and dedicated columns enabled the Company to reach more than 100 million contacts in 2023 alone. In 2024, the Company also launched the “Financial Education Tour,” a seven-stage journey through Italy, with the participation of Alleanza Advisors and local institutions, to address the different situations of financial fragility that emerged from the Observatory.Also this year, and for the fourth consecutive year, the Company is adhering to the “Financial Education Month”-organized by the Committee for the planning and coordination of financial education activities-through a series of events that are inaugurated on October 30 in Rome precisely with the presentation of the Edufin Index.
– Photo xc3/Italpress –
(ITALPRESS).
