Back to School: Why Financial Wellbeing Starts Young

Supporting working parents starts with understanding the financial pressures of family life

Financial wellbeing doesn’t suddenly begin when someone starts work, it starts much earlier, with the money habits and conversations children experience growing up.

Every September, parents are reminded to get their children ready for the new school year. New uniforms, new shoes, stationery, packed lunches, clubs, childcare and a whole new routine to get used to. There is a lot to think about and for working parents, it can feel like a particularly busy time of year.

September is just one moment.

The costs, conversations and decisions around money continue long after the first day back at school. And while employers are increasingly recognising the importance of supporting working parents through busy periods like September, there is an opportunity to think about something that can have an impact all year round: helping families build financial confidence from an early age.

School teaches maths but who teaches them about money?

Children spend years learning how numbers work, but knowing how to add, subtract and multiply is only one part of being confident with money.

Understanding the difference between something you want and something you need, knowing why we save, making choices about spending and understanding that money is earned rather than simply appearing are all things children learn over time.

There is evidence that these early experiences really do matter. Research from the Money and Pensions Service found that children who have received meaningful financial education are more likely to feel confident managing their money, save more regularly and demonstrate positive day to day money management skills. Yet just over half of parents and carers said they felt confident talking to their children about money.

Children often learn about money through everyday moments. A trip to the shops, saving pocket money for something they want, deciding whether to spend or save, or simply talking about why something costs what it does can all help children start to understand how money works.

These conversations might seem small, but they can help shape the way children think about money as they grow.

Parents don’t need to be financial experts

For many parents, financial education can feel like yet another thing to add to an already very long to do list. Between work, childcare, school runs and everything else that comes with family life, finding the time to sit down and teach your child about money probably isn’t high on the list.

However, it doesn’t have to be another task.

Financial confidence can be built through simple, everyday conversations and experiences. The important thing is giving children the opportunity to start thinking about money early and helping them develop positive habits over time.

It’s clear that there is appetite for this kind of support. According to The Yorkshire Building Society, nine in ten (89%) parents believe financial education should be taught in school, yet, currently financial education is not mandatory on the primary school curriculum in England.

So, perhaps the question isn’t whether parents want their children to understand money. It’s how we make it easier for them to help their children do that.

Back to school isn’t just a family event

For HR teams, September can bring changing childcare arrangements, increased costs, new routines and requests for more flexibility.

Parents are trying to balance getting their children settled while keeping everything else moving and the financial pressure of the new school year can add to that load.

For many families, the financial impact of the summer holidays doesn’t end when children go back to school. After weeks of additional childcare and other expenses, parents can be left trying to absorb the cost just as the usual household bills and back-to-school spending begin again. Holiday club costs alone have risen by 5% in the last year, with parents facing an average bill of £191 per child per week, or £1,145 across the six-week summer holiday, according to Coram Family and Childcare’s 2026 Holiday Childcare Survey.

That’s before you start thinking about uniforms, school trips, clubs, activities and all the other costs that come with a new school year.

For employers, it’s a reminder that the challenges working parents face don’t disappear once September arrives, so support doesn’t need to begin and end with the back-to-school period.

Financial wellbeing starts long before work

We often think about financial wellbeing as something that becomes important when someone gets their first job, starts earning a salary or begins thinking about pensions and savings, when in reality, many of our attitudes towards money are already being shaped by that point.

The way we think about spending, saving and making financial decisions can be influenced by the habits and conversations we experience growing up. Giving children the opportunity to develop a positive relationship with money early on can therefore give them a stronger foundation for later life.

For employers, this creates an opportunity to look beyond traditional workplace financial education and think about how they can support the families behind their employees too.

Supporting working parents with practical resources throughout the year can make a real difference. And financial wellbeing support can extend beyond the employee themselves, helping families feel more confident when it comes to talking about and managing money together.

Helping families build money confidence

This is where financial education can play a role.

Alongside support for employees, our financial education hub also gives families a way to introduce children to money from an early age. Lifetime Kids helps children build their understanding of money and develop positive financial habits, while giving parents practical ways to start those conversations at home.

There are already practical ways employers can help families manage some of the financial pressures that come with having children. But financial wellbeing is about more than managing the costs of today.

It is also about helping children develop the knowledge, confidence and habits they can carry with them into the future. When September comes and goes, the school year moves on, routines change and the next set of expenses inevitably arrives.

The money habits children build can stay with them for much longer, making financial wellbeing a lifelong journey that can start with something as simple as a conversation at home.

Want to see how financial education could support your employees and their families? Book a demo to find out more about what’s available through our financial wellbeing hub.

Written by Ione Morton, Marketing Executive