Financial Literacy Month

Floor Speech

Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, my friend and colleague from Wyoming, Senator Enzi, and I have once again submitted a resolution to designate April as ``Financial Literacy Month'' to raise public awareness of this important issue. I would like to first thank the cosponsors of the resolution, Senators Baucus, Blunt, Brown of Ohio, Cardin, Carper, Cochran, Coons, Crapo, Durbin, Hagan, Inouye, Johnson of South Dakota, Kohl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Menendez, Murray, and Wicker. I appreciate their hard work and support in working to increase the level of financial literacy for people of all ages across America. I also thank the Senate for taking up this resolution and passing it with unanimous consent last night.

This is the tenth and final year that I have introduced this resolution, which highlights our Nation's need for investments in financial literacy, commends current efforts and initiatives to promote financial education, and encourages the administration and private institutions to continue to work toward creating a more financially literate public.

Financial literacy empowers individuals to be able to appropriately evaluate credit opportunities, successfully save and invest for long-term financial goals in an increasingly intricate marketplace, and responsibly manage their personal, professional, and family finances. It is essential that we continue to make strides toward improving education and consumer protection, while giving individuals the necessary tools to build more financially stable families, businesses, and communities. As we continue along the path to economic recovery, it is imperative that the basics of economics, credit, and personal finance become a fundamental fixture in the American school system.

The Council for Economic Education recently released their 2011 ``Survey of the States: Economic and Personal Finance Education in Our Nation's Schools.'' According to this survey, there have been great improvements in financial literacy since the first survey in 1998. However, troublingly, in the past 2 years, progress has slowed and in some cases even reversed. Specifically, only 22 States require students to take an economics course as a high school graduation requirement, and only 16 States require the testing of student knowledge in economics. In addition, only 12 States require students to take a personal finance course either independently or as part of an economics course as a high school graduation requirement.

Also, alarmingly, according to the Gallup-Operation HOPE Financial Literacy Index, while 69 percent of American students strongly believe that the best time to save money is now, only 57 percent believe that their parents are saving money for the future. Despite clear progress in this area over the past 15 years, these most recent trends are disturbing.

There is no better time than now to invest in a better-educated, more financially savvy public. With the increased complexity of and access to today's financial products, the unscrupulous nature of predatory lenders as they enticed millions of families into complicated loans they could not afford nor understand, and people having to make important life decisions at a younger and younger age, it is critical that we ensure that students are empowered by a sound financial education by the time they graduate from high school. Our Nation cannot afford another housing crisis, and the best way to safeguard against that risk is education and promotion spreading knowledge.

I would like to thank the various organizations and individuals who are doing their part to ensure the education of personal finance reaches as many Americans as possible. Teachers, parents, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, Governors, legislators, and other decision makers must be leaders on this issue just as all of us owe it to ourselves and our country to have adequate knowledge of personal finance.

As policymakers, we must champion these issues year round, not just in the month of April. However, focusing on Financial Literacy Month in April allows us to have a designated month when we can focus our efforts, take stock of what has been working, and improve on our work for the coming year. I thank my colleagues again for passing this resolution.

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