Financial Literacy Key To Inclusive Economic Growth

As the world economy continues to face volatility, inflationary pressures, and growing wealth gaps, a new and formidable risk is emerging—not one characterized by conventional market forces, but by a dearth of financial literacy. At the 2025 World Economic Forum, a varied panel of speakers stressed that financial literacy is no longer an individual concern, but a collective imperative crucial to creating inclusive economies and sustainable communities.

The meeting, involving education, finance, and social impact leaders, highlighted that financial capability should be addressed as a system-level priority. It is more than an adult skill to be acquired, but a life skill that can be initiated early and reinforced frequently. It needs to be built with empathy, learned with cultural sensitivity, and instilled into the very systems governing education and work.

Yanely Espinal, Next Gen Personal Finance Director of Educational Outreach, opened with a powerful anecdote from her own experience. A childhood in poverty in New York City, Espinal received a scholarship to Brown University—only to be saddled with debt as she attempted to fit in on campus. Her experience highlighted the point: financial literacy has to transcend graphs and equations. It needs to speak to actual lives, mirror lived experiences, and provide young people with an exit strategy from following in the footsteps of financial struggle generationally. Espinal believed that narrative and empathy are essential for connecting students, especially those from marginalized communities, with intelligent discussions about money.

Building on the discussion, JD LaRock, President and CEO of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), explained how his organization is empowering students with not just money acumen but entrepreneurial mindset. Through incorporating business literacy into public school curricula in 30 U.S. states and 31 countries, NFTE is educating students about how to earn money responsibly. LaRock emphasized that entrepreneurship education gives youth a sense of control and confidence in managing their financial futures, allowing them to become problem-solvers and community innovators.

Technical skills such as budgeting and saving are necessary, said Brian Gallagher, past CEO of United Way Worldwide, but they are not sufficient. He pointed out the necessity for a cultural transformation that makes healthy financial behaviors the norm. Referring to his own family background, Gallagher described how the lack of support networks makes planning finances beyond reach, even for someone who wants to learn. He was calling for more far-reaching structural reforms that normalize budgeting and saving as part of daily life, particularly in low-income communities. Systemic injustice, he said, cannot be fixed without fixing at the same time the cultural habits that perpetuate it.

The session also highlighted the special financial needs of women. Sam Saperstein, director of JPMorgan Chase's Women on the Move program, discussed the bank's research on women and financial confidence and control. Many, she said, tend to abdicate responsibility for financial decisions, which can leave them particularly at risk in divorce, crisis, or when a partner dies. To combat this, her team is trying to change attitudes early—beginning with women and girls entrepreneurs—so they can be more prepared to make smart, autonomous financial decisions throughout their lifetime.

Jennifer Wines, Fidelity Private Wealth Management Vice President, underscored that financial literacy should develop and evolve with people. It's not only a topic to be learned in high school or college, but an ever-changing relationship with money that shifts through life stages—growing credit in one's twenties to retirement planning later on. Wines promotes a values-driven financial philosophy, in which individuals know not only how money functions, but how to use their financial decisions to further personal goals and ethics.

The panel wrapped up with an optimistic message: true change can happen when people are empowered to grasp and define their financial futures. The panelists concurred that financial literacy is not only an individual good—it is a public good that makes communities stronger. When individuals make smart financial choices, they are more stable, more secure, and more likely to help drive overall economic growth.

In a world struggling with economic insecurity, the Davos message was unmistakable: developing a financially educated population is not a nicety. It is a requirement for building resilient economies and inclusive societies. Equipping people with financial knowledge now sets the stage for a more equitable, sustainable future.