Each day in there are a few news articles from the national broadcaster pushed out in English, with many really not so relevant to anything nor going in-depth, but can be interesting. Like today, there was one with the ominous headline:
They surveyed almost 7000 high school age people and found that, "Fifty-five percent of boys rated their knowledge and skills in managing money as good, compared with 38 percent of girls". That is a significant difference but I am not sure if it is a relevant difference, because especially at that age, I would say that boys are more confident than girls in many areas.
Confidence doesn't equate to skill.
They are confident drivers too.
The main point of the article wasn't about the gap between the sexes, but that people who are more confident about their financial skills, tend to be more positive about their future. This again makes pretty clear sense as those who believe they can tackle financial needs adequately, will of course have less fear about failure to do so. Pretty obvious. What was interesting to note that only a quarter of those who weren't confident about their skills believed they wouldn't have enough money in the future. This goes to show that their confidence is there, even when they know their skills aren't.
But the bit that stuck out to me was more of a throwaway line toward the end:
The survey also found young people with immigrant backgrounds kept track of and planned their spending more often than young people born in Finland.
At least from my perception, this is obvious due to a number of factors, because for a much greater share of people within immigrant groups are going to face financial challenges and are of course more likely to have immigrant parents, with different cultural understanding around money, work ethic, and the ability to actually earn. Money (or more likely the lack of money) is probably a far more visible topic in immigrant families in Finland, whereas a lot of Finnish families tend to insulate their children from money matters at young ages, and even into adulthood. On top of this, due to historical reasons, Finnish families will on average be in far better financial positions, because they have a line of inheritance, stronger social networks, and don't have to face the often discriminatory challenges of being foreign and trying to get a suitable job. Finns have on average a far better safety net, socially and economically, than a foreign family.
And I think this is where it also gets interesting heading into the future, because confidence and safety net only go so far, if the skills aren't actually developed. At least from looking at the Gen-Z generation, they might have been similarly confident at around the same age, yet as adults have failed quite spectacularly and are suffering under copious amounts of debts that have largely been accrued through unnecessary activity and consumption. It is not all their fault though, because both the economic challenges are against them, and they are lacking the skills to manage their money appropriately.
Despite how easy information is to obtain, going into the future I see the younger generations suffering even more, because as their confidence keeps increasing and their skills do not, they will paint themselves into financial corners faster. In this way, perhaps the immigrant kids will have an advantage due to the difference in their upbringing and environmental availability, but they are also more likely to face scarcity mindset challenges and of course, a worsening environment for anyone who looks or sounds different in the job market.
How we feel changes our perceptions of the future, but I also think that we need to evaluate whether our feelings are valid or not. As said, there are a lot of confident young drivers, but look at the statistics and note that in regards to fatal accidents, drivers under twenty are 3 times more likely to be involved, and for any accident, four times more likely. Lots of confidence, but lacking the necessary skills to handle the environment and conditions.
Economic conditions are similar.
And it isn't just challenging economic conditions they (and all of us) are facing, because they are going to be exacerbated by a host of other factors that are going to affect us in terms of our ability to work, and culturally. Automation and artificial intelligence are going to fundamentally change the world of employment, yet these same confident kids are learning the same things that their parents and grandparents learned at school. Just not as well. Those foundational skills are important to establish, but even now the kids are degrading globally in these areas.
The other day I was on a tram talking with an ex-colleague and we were surrounded by teens on their way to school of the age represented in the survey. The tram was almost silent, as they stared at their phones, earbuds in, not speaking, not smiling, not even looking out the window. I said to my friend that I find it sad that they will never know what it felt like to have a real childhood, free of digital consumption. But, from their perspective, I am sure they are confidently living their life, believing it is the way it should be.
The confidence of youth doesn't reflect the conditions of reality.
Taraz
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