Thematic notes of the interventions:

Pier Paolo Beretta – Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance

• Levels of financial literacy in Italy is still low, especially compared to other OECD countries
• Difference in levels including gender
• Measures on youth and gender equality should be kept in mind
• Adequate levels of financial knowledge are necessary for social and economic development
• Direct correlation between financial knowledge and resilience
• COVID emergency puts us to the test – we are all more exposed to the consequences, especially the economic and financial ones
• COVID has had a very strong impact on Italian poverty
  • 105% increase in new people requesting assistance
  • Increase in inequalities
  • Increase in personal savings – accumulation that exceeds the norm which if it were to prolong presents a risk

Financial education should be treated like our health.

Prof. Annamaria Lusardi – director of the Ministerial Committee for the planning and coordination of financial education activities

• Social initiatives have shown us the power of schools that transform young people into financial champions
• Experimenting with new projects
• Monitor the objectives and results achieved
• ESG issues are even more important today
• We need to talk about equity for social development
• The pandemic is changing the world around us but is underlining the importance of financial literacy

Similarity of the effects between a disease and low levels of financial knowledge, because it affects the poorest and most exposed.

Chiara Monticone – Senior Analyst OECD

• • National strategies for financial literacy
    º Data, analysis, mapping
    º Coordination and governance
    º Independence, skills, personal capacity, resources and possibly executive powers
    º Appropriate and sustainable resources
    º Role of public, private and non-profit entities
    º Monitoring and evaluation of the strategy with respect to the set objectives
  • Financial literacy and the various sectors of the financial landscape
  • Effective implementation of financial literacy programs
    º Competence guidelines
    º Capacity of recipients
    º Start on a small scale
    º Sensitive moments
    º Enrich financial knowledge but above all encourage changes in behavior and attitudes
    º Take into account the psychological biases and real behavior of people
    º Evaluate the impact and effectiveness
  • Start of a new process
    º Political commitment of implementation

The costs of inaction and ignorance are very high.