New York City to Tackle Youth Financial Illiteracy

The modern world presents a bevy of personal finance challenges. Maintaining a bank account, investing money, avoiding scams—people need to understand how to navigate all of these to achieve financial stability.

Unfortunately, many Americans are simply not equipped. According to the World Economic Forum, only half of US adults are considered financially literate. The numbers are even more alarming among US youth. In fact, one study found that Gen Z respondents were able to answer only 38% of financial literacy questions correctly.

Recognizing this gap, government leaders have responded by increasingly incorporating personal finance education into school curriculums. As of late 2025, at least 30 states require high school students to complete a personal finance course before graduating.

Cities have also stepped up. Among them is New York. Understanding that children from underserved communities have even lower rates of financial literacy than their more advantaged counterparts, the city has launched the Financial Literacy for Youth initiative.

Announced by then-Mayor Eric Adams in June 2025, Financial Literacy for Youth aims to ensure every public school student in the five boroughs has the opportunity to learn how to manage money by 2030. “If you don’t teach people how to use their money, they will lose their money,” he said in a November 2025 press statement.

The then-mayor began to reveal Financial Literacy for Youth in his State of the City address in January 2025. By June, he had announced that a pilot program would launch in 15 of the city’s school districts, with plans to expand to all 32 districts by 2030. The initial districts include neighborhoods with large numbers of families without bank accounts.

Under the plan, financial educators are available in each of the 15 districts. Students and their families can access these financial educators free of charge. Working with teachers, the educators will provide counseling and workshops aimed at improving financial literacy.

“We teach our children and our scholars … chemical bonds but not stocks and bonds,” said Adams at a press conference at Brooklyn Collegiate Preparatory School, which is located in one of the four Brooklyn districts that will participate in the pilot program. (The other districts include six in the Bronx, three in Manhattan, and one each in Queens and Staten Island.) “We have to learn both.”

Since the June announcement, Financial Literacy for Youth has expanded. In November, Adams announced that, as part of the program, students in 15 schools will have direct access to in-school banking services. Each of the 15 schools are within the 15 districts where the initiative has launched.

The banking services will be offered in partnership with 12 financial institutions, which range from big banks to local credit unions. With the help of these institutions, young people will be able safely open bank accounts and access other trusted financial products.

Financial Literacy for Youth will “bring banking services directly to students and give them hands-on experience opening up a safe, affordable bank account [and] learning about financial products,” said Adams. The program, scheduled to launch in 2026, will also introduce students to careers in banking and finance.

Adams visited one of the participating schools, HS223 in the Bronx, to spread the world about Financial Literacy for Youth. Speaking about his own struggles with financial literacy, he emphasized the importance of ensuring the next generation, particularly those growing up in underserved communities, is better able to achieve financial health.

“My credit score was devastated when I was in college because I didn’t have that understanding. We lived from paycheck to paycheck. We didn’t know about investing in ourselves first to build bank accounts, checking accounts, some of the things these young people are going to have,” he said while students from HS223 stood behind him.

“You can’t just be academically smart. … [Y]ou must be financially literate.”

HS223 students in attendance spoke in favor of the program. One student in the class of 2027, who viewed Financial Literacy for Youth as having the potential to effect significant positive change at his school, said “I think this program will benefit future students. … It would be a great opportunity if younger generations knew how to manage their own money.”

The student also spoke about the importance of offering the initiative at a school that, because of economic and racial barriers, is often overlooked. “Being from the South Bronx people have low expectations.” But, when given opportunities, he believes students from his school will seize those opportunities and excel.

Adams left office when his term expired in January, and it is up to current mayor Zohran Mamdani to continue the program. Prior to winning the mayoral election, Mamdani indicated his support for Financial Literacy for Youth, and Adams said he was hopeful Mayor Mamdani would leave the initiative in place.

“The legacy we’ve started is one that I hope will continue in the next administration,” he said. “More than 350,000 students will benefit from this program.”