What Is Financial Illiteracy and How Do You Fix It?
Financial illiteracy is when a person does not have the basic math skills required in everyday life, such as numeral recognition, addition, subtraction and percentages, let alone understanding more complicated concepts such as compound interest and budgeting. In one country in South Asia, only 24 percent of adults are financially literate, the lowest in the world.1
Women, as well as the elderly, have the lowest levels of financial literacy. According to one study,
“This gender gap is found in both advanced economies and emerging economies. Women have weaker financial skills than men even considering variations in age, country, education, and income.”2
Cultural and historical issues surround the literacy and numeracy rates of women worldwide. Much progress has been made in this area, but more work must be done to pull adults, especially women, out of illiteracy. This is where organizations like GFA World can meet such immediate needs with compassion and care.
GFA World’s literacy program, through national missionaries, provides materials and training to people who struggle with poverty and illiteracy. Through specially designed workbooks, GFA missionaries not only teach adults to read, write and do math, but they also teach eternal truths from God’s Word. The time these missionaries spend with class participants also allows the missionaries to develop relationships with the women as mentors and friends.
GFA missionaries are native to the areas they serve, which means they have a personal connection with and heart for the people they work with. They also understand the cultural nuances and pressures that complicate matters like poverty and illiteracy. These are multifaceted issues that need care and attention on multiple levels. Along with literacy classes, GFA missionaries also help address other problems in the communities they serve. GFA missionaries long for the wholeness of the person—body, mind and soul.
GFA missionaries understand the problems caused by illiteracy and have regularly witnessed the power of literacy training to spread Christ’s love. Their care of the people they teach, and the training they provide, helps lift individuals and families out of poverty.
You can love these missionaries through your giving, and through them you can help change a whole community with the love of Jesus Christ.
Learn more about numeracy definition
1 Klapper, Leora, et. al. “Financial Literacy Around the World.” GFLEC. November 2015. https://gflec.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/3313-Finlit_Report_FINAL-5.11.16.pdf?x22667.
2 Klapper, Leora, et. al. “Financial Literacy Around the World.” GFLEC. November 2015. https://gflec.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/3313-Finlit_Report_FINAL-5.11.16.pdf?x22667.