Latest news with #homeeconomics
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
How AI Can Help Boost Financial Literacy For Fintech Users
Like most people educated in the 1980's, home economics was a required but underappreciated part of my education. We learned among other things how to sew on a button, make macaroni and cheese and balance my checking account. It turns out these are important skills, especially when it comes to financial literacy and knowing how to keep track of who I owe and what I own. Notably, this concept of a "household balance sheet" has been used by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank system for at least the last 75 years to estimate the net worth of American households. For example, Federal Reserve Bank Board of Governors Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson recent remarks at Vassar noted the household balance sheet marks car loans, mortgages, or other borrowing activities as liabilities. Conversely, one's bank account, house, or stocks in a 401k are relevant assets. In his writings, past Chairman of the Retirement Income Industry Association, Francois Gadenne, expands the definition of the Household Balance Sheet's assets to include insurance, availability of programs such as Medicare, and educational levels of the household among other factors. Using the Fed's household balance sheet and simple math, the median net worth of the 131 million U.S. households is around $190,000. Digging into the number paints a different picture. The Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances and Distributional Financial Accounts provides a breakdown of the average household net worth by income quintile and reports the lowest 20 percent quintile had a median net worth of $6,400. Today, less than a third of U.S. students are required to take a personal finance course in high school The not-for-profit reports 20% of adult Americans or approximately 48 million people read on a third-grade level or below. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly earnings for an individual with less than a high school diploma are one third of those with more education. In an era where many Americans are on the financial precipice and limited exposure to personal financial management, how can artificial intelligence and access to data help consumers shore up their household balance sheet? Fintech firms are stepping in with AI-enabled tools to fill the education gap. For example, the software provider MX is partnering with industry leaders to merge individuals' financial data with behavioral science and provide a clear and dynamic step-by-step plan to achieve their financial goals. Other fintech start-ups like Serene utilize AI to identify customers challenged by the complexities of life and generate tailored messages and personalized recommendations for their banks to proactively support them with products and services. Other ways fintech companies are leveraging customer data to deploy AI to help consumers make better financial decisions include: Taken together and when used properly, AI-enabled products and services can and eventually will build more financial resilience for our friends, neighbors and small business owners. It would be a mistake to conclude, though, that digital literacy surpasses the importance of financial literacy to strengthening the household balance sheet. While George Washington Carver said, 'Education is the key that unlocks the golden door to freedom", financial security is the hinge that opens the door to a progressively better future for all members of our society.
Irish Times
04-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Leaving Cert home economics: ‘Practical, topical, no curveballs'
The Leaving Cert higher level home economics paper received a thumbs-up from teachers who sad students will be relieved with an exam which featured plenty of 'nice' questions. Megan Friel, Home Economics teacher at Mercy College, Sligo and Studyclix subject expert, said the paper was 'very practical, topical, student-friendly and contained no curve balls'. Alice Quinn, home economics teacher at The Institute of Education, also said that clear nature of the questions allowed students with a solid grasp of material to get straight to the point. 'The appearance of predicted materials will help offset some of the more niche questions,' she said. READ MORE Ms Friel said section B Q1 – which is compulsory – focused on the impact of food choices and eating habits of adults in Ireland. 'This was very relevant to students and gave them the opportunity to display their in-depth knowledge of the course,' she said. 'The properties didn't appear in Section A which is unusual, but students will be delighted, and the main nutrient on Section B Q1 was lipids. This hasn't been asked since 2018. The core question was also straightforward. Students are very comfortable answering questions about food commodities.' Ms Quinn said students will have been cheered by the 'array of nice, clear short questions to start the paper'. 'There was no ambiguity in what was being asked, more so than previous years, and so students could launch straight into answering,' she said. 'The first question was a nice recall of nutrients: functions of carbohydrates, deficiency diseases – the real fundamentals of the subject,' she said. 'The fish question may have thrown some as many could have overlooked the differences in cold vs hot smoking in their revision, but with other options available they won't have lost momentum.' Students will also have been pleased to see Family Resource Management as the question setter kept with recent trends in papers. 'Even though the questions were comparatively niche, this will have suited most students as the precision of the questions let those with a solid grasp get straight to the point and earn marks,' she said. Over on Section B, she said students were again greeted with a 'nice entry point'. 'The pie chart was a nice way to access the data and the questions offered lots of scope. Students did need to read the question carefully to fully grasp it, but at the core was the baseline elements of that they should be familiar with,' Ms Quinn said. 'Many will be thrilled to see the predicted appearance of lipids and the sometimes tricky question (e) replaced with a familiar take on factors of choice and eating habits of adult.' Question 2 was quite broad and spanned chapter lines but would have made a lot of sense to those who reflected on the interconnected ideas and key words of the syllabus, Ms Quinn said. 'In particular, those who anticipated the return of cheese (not seen since 2017) will be pleased,' she said. She said Q3 was an unexpected aspect of an expected topic – food hygiene – so those who really covered the topic in detail would have been best suited to tackle it. Overall, students familiar with the past papers and the fundamentals of the subject will have been able accrue marks effectively and efficiently. The occasional question on more niche aspects of the course will have surprised some but given others the chance to distinguish themselves. Ms Friel, meanwhile, sad the ordinary level paper included questions that were 'very student-friendly and accessible.' Section B Q1 featured a very user-friendly chart on soup, while students will be relieved that Section B Q2 followed the same format as previous years. 'Overall this was a very fair paper which will likely have brought a smile to the faces of students and teachers alike,' she said.
