Knowledge Is Power
Today our nation honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King once said: “Everyone can be great because everybody can serve.” Fittingly, today’s federal holiday is also recognized as a national day of service, when in the spirit of Dr. King, people come together to help their communities.
Helping our communities has never been more important than now.
The tragic death of George Floyd last year triggered a re-examination of longstanding racial and socioeconomic inequities in communities throughout our nation.
There are many causes of economic inequality including a discrepancy in financial literacy. Researchers at the Wharton School found that more than one-third of financial inequality in the United States could be accounted for by the differences in financial literacy.
Financial literacy can open doors and close the racial wealth gap. All Americans – no matter who they are or where they live – should have access to tools and resources that will enable them to become financially literate. A sustained long-term commitment to improving financial literacy will help millions of Americans and their families.
To that end, the life insurance industry applauds many initiatives to increase financial literacy across the nation, including:
- The Council for Economic Education’s (CEE) efforts to ensure that more high schools across America are requiring economics and personal finance classes to graduate. CEE says that in states without course requirements, there is a 15-point gap in access to financial education between kids from lower-income versus wealthier families.
- EVERFI’s program to develop a financial education digital curriculum that has reached more than 2 million students nationwide. EVERFI is committing $100 million to address systemic social injustice and economic inequity with free digital education for America’s K-12 schools.
- Junior Achievement’s Finance Park initiative, which uses experiential learning to help middle-schoolers discover how to navigate today’s complex economy.
The life insurance industry applauds the work by these groups and others to help under resourced communities. Our industry is committed to supporting important financial literacy initiatives like these that will make a vital impact for so many Americans.
