With longer life expectancies across the globe in current times, financial literacy has become an essential skill needed to navigate today’s complex financial landscape. As a result, governments worldwide are focusing on ways to enhance financial literacy among their populace, with many leading national strategies for financial education to ensure continuous learning opportunities throughout people’s lives. In Ireland, the discourse on financial literacy was borne out of an increasing a need to fill gaps in understanding of financial concepts and to attain financial wellbeing. One of the earliest financial literacy studies conducted in Ireland in 2004 predicted that adults with literacy and numeracy needs would face greater financial exclusion as banking products grew more complex and shifted online. The study also revealed that financial literacy levels are low across various age groups and income levels. Further research conducted by NALA in 2009 revealed a significant gap in financial literacy among various demographic and income groups in Ireland, with special emphasis on enhancing financial education for older individuals. Additionally, the OECD’s survey revealed grim statistics and implications of Ireland’s low level of financial literacy in contrast to several European nations. Among other things, the report showed that, Ireland’s performance in literacy and numeracy falls below average when compared to 24 OECD countries (CSO, 2013). These figures leave much to be desired in achieving financial wellbeing because, proficiency in both reading and numerical abilities has been acknowledged as vital indicators financial literacy needed to attain wellbeing. This supports earlier findings by Faulkner, Murphy and Scott, (2019) showing that, a notable portion (18%) of the adult populace in Ireland grapples with interpreting everyday textual content, while one in four Irish adults (25%) encounters challenges in employing fundamental mathematics in day-to-day scenarios. Against this backdrop, the current study sought to identify the financial literacy requirements older persons in Ireland need to attain wellbeing in older age.

Authors: Melissa Anguah Nortey, Maeve Mc Ardle, Emer McKenna, Suzanne Smith

Published in: Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE-2025)

• Date of Conference: 8-10 April, 2025
• DOI: 10.20533/IICE.2025.0023
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-78-5
• Conference Location: Dún Laoghaire, Ireland