Acquiring Financial Skills Today To Assure Future Stability
4-H Family and Consumer Sciences
Terence Clemons
4-H Communications and Expressive Arts Core Curriculum
4-H Youth Development Programming
4-H Family and Consumer Science Core Curriculum
Through numerous Plan of Work Planning Meetings, The Bath County 4-H Council identified Teens' lack of financial preparedness as a major concern for county youth. Multiple reports from school staff, parents, and volunteers feel youth are going into college confused, frustrated, and unprepared. Kentucky consistently lags behind other areas of the United States in household income indicators, including personal income, population living below the poverty line, unemployment and revolving debt loads. Bath County’s poverty rate is 25.1%(Kentucky by the Numbers, UK College of Agriculture).
Able to apply smart financial behaviors to budgeting, savings, and investments
Future families report economic stability
Improvement of quality of life
Practice of economic management pertaining to savings and investments
Youth adopt short-mid-long term financial goals
Demonstrating practical living skills pertaining to spending
Teens will show knowledge of how their behavior can affect credit scores
Open and able to balance a bank account
Enhance knowledge of Financial Literacy
Understand connection of school performance and job attainment
Understand how family size affects savings and spending
Display knowledge of community sources that pertain to finances
Initial Outcome: Understanding Financial Literacy
Indicator: Youth can define literacy terms
Method: Pre/Post Tests, Word of Mouth, Reported Grades
Timeline: Year Round
Intermediate Outcome: Youth start putting in what they learned to practice
Indicator: Opening of bank accounts
Method: Word of Mouth
Timeline: Year Round
Long-term Outcome: As a young adult, they start practicing financial smart choices
Indicator: Young adult has started using money saving methods
Method: Verbal Reports
Timeline: Various Times
Audience: Middle School Age Youth, Tweens and Teens
Project or Activity: Reality Store
Content or Curriculum: It's Youth Reality
Inputs: Family Resource Center Director, 4-H Extension Agent, Volunteers
Date: Spring of Current Year
Audience: Elementary School Aged Youth, Tweens and Teens
Project or Activity: In School Clubs
Content or Curriculum: Consumer Savy Series
Inputs: Teachers, 4-H Extension Agent
Date: Year Round
Audience: High School School Aged Youth, Tweens and Teens
Project or Activity: Entrepreneurship
Content or Curriculum: Youth Engagement Leadership Program
Inputs: Teachers, 4-H Extension Agent
Date: Year Round
Author: Nicole Gwishiri
Major Program: Money Habitudes
While identifying needs through the Bath County's Extension Council, one topic that was talked about is the need for financial literacy programs. 63% of Americans have no emergency savings for things such as a $1,000 emergency room visit as reported by Bankrate.com. The FCS Agent continued hosting a series of educational programs that identified different aspects of financial education, such as savings versus investing, developing a spending plan and evaluating the process, using apps that a