DigiConsumers - Improving young people's financial skills in a digitalised consumer society

DigiConsumers brings together different disciplines and stakeholders

Read more about DigiConsumers

New research

Kortesalmi, M. M., Autio, M., & Ranta, M.
06.06.2024

Am I Entitled to Help? Building Confidence Through Financial Inclusion

Journal of Financial Therapy, 15(1), 26-42.

Financial inclusion has focused primarily on the accessibility of financial social services. However, it is important to note that individual financial practices not only require the opportunity to access financial structures, but also confidence in their accessibility to engage in and utilize such services. Individuals facing difficult life situations often encounter challenges in financial activities due to limited resources and a need for more skills.

DigiConsumers in a nutshell

DigiConsumers is a multidisciplinary research project for identifying solutions to improve the economic and consumer skills of young people between the ages of 13 and 25 especially in digital environments.

Digitalisation has changed a number of everyday habits, such as consumption, savings and other money-related activities.

The goal of the research

Actions to promote digital and economic skills require a comprehensive understanding of young people’s consumption habits and economic behaviours, as well as the factors that influence them in digital environments.

The aim of the study is to find practical solutions to improve young people’s economic and digital skills and to promote sustainable consumption.

A multidisciplinary consortium

DigiConsumers is a multidisciplinary consortium focusing on changes in the consumption cultures, consumption and economic behaviours and economic and digital skills of young people. The project will be carried out between 2019 and 2025 and it is funded by the Strategic Research Council (SRC) at the Academy of Finland.

Led by the University of Jyväskylä, the consortium also consists of University of Helsinki, University of Vaasa, Pellervo Economic Research PTT and Nuorten yrittäjyys ja talous NYT.

Work packages

Young people as consumers in digital environments

The factors affecting young people´s digital and financial skills inside and outside school
Assessing Financial Literacy – PISA and background
Game-based approaches and digital tools in financial education

Communications and interaction

Publications

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Rekar Abdulhamed, Marguerite Beattie
01.10.2024

The link between teacher–student relations and sense of school belonging is not equal for all: The moderating role of immigrant status

Wiley Online Library

Teachers’ support and positive teacher–student bonds are key factors in promoting a sense of school belonging (SB) among adolescents. Previous research shows that immigrant-origin adolescents (IOA’s) report lower SB than their non-immigrant peers do. This study examines if positive teacher–student bonds are equally beneficial for the SB of immigrant-origin and non-immigrant adolescents. Using PISA 2022 data, the moderating role of immigrant status in this relationship was assessed in European countries by multi-level models (NStudents = 151,211, NSchools = 21,629, NCountries = 19). Country-level analyses revealed that IOA’s benefited less from positive teacher–student relations in 6 out of 19 countries. In Sweden, Belgium, and Portugal this moderation effect was conditional on the moderating role of school diversity promotion.

Kortesalmi, M., Autio, M., Ranta, M., & Sekki, S
27.09.2024

Stepping Up—Leaning Back: Young Adults Constructing Financial Agency in the Verge of Financial Independence

Sage Journals, YOUNG Editorial Group

This study investigated young adults’ financial agency-building. In youth, agency-building entails becoming aware of capabilities possessed and structural conditions. Despite the agentic viewpoint being well-established in youth research, agency in financial issues is understudied. We conducted semi-structured interviews for 18 independently living young adults from Finland aged between 21 and 26 years. Our study suggests that parents’ financial socialization not only increases children’s financial capabilities but functions as a mirror surface for young adults, thus supporting financial agency-building. Complementing the theorization of financial socialization, this study presents the young adults’ perspective on financial agency-building.

Kortesalmi, M. M., Autio, M., & Ranta, M.
06.06.2024

Am I Entitled to Help? Building Confidence Through Financial Inclusion

Journal of Financial Therapy, 15(1), 26-42.

Financial inclusion has focused primarily on the accessibility of financial social services. However, it is important to note that individual financial practices not only require the opportunity to access financial structures, but also confidence in their accessibility to engage in and utilize such services. Individuals facing difficult life situations often encounter challenges in financial activities due to limited resources and a need for more skills.