Focus on financial awareness: experiences of a questionnaire survey

Abstract

Financial literacy is a complex issue that does not only involve an individual's lexical knowledge or simple experience. An individual can claim to be financially aware if he or she has the right knowledge and is confident in applying it in practice and in everyday life. It is the combination of these ingredients and their extensive application are needed for leading to positive results. In the wake of the 2008 economic crisis, financial culture has received increasing attention. In recent years, a number of programmes have been launched in our country to promote financial literacy, with the main aim of raising financial awareness among young people. The aim of our study is to provide a comprehensive picture of the understanding of financial literacy, the conceptual framework, financial awareness and financial attitudes of university students in Hungary. The target group of our questionnaire survey was the first-year students of the University of Nyíregyháza. The questions focus, among other things, on the geographical location of the students' place of residence, the education of the parents, the students' housing and income situation, and their general financial knowledge. Our research investigated how different socio-demographic and educational characteristics of young people in higher education influence their financial attitudes. The aim of this questionnaire-based research is to understand the financial culture of Hungarian young people and to identify and assess the underlying factors that influence their financial attitudes. With the results of our research, we would like to contribute to the students' recognition that it is of utmost importance that their financial behaviour and awareness is always up-to-date and at the right level. With this knowledge, many complicated situations can be avoided and prevented. Consequently, based on our survey, we can conclude that we have been able to partially explore the financial culture and attitudes of our first-year full-time students at the University of Nyíregyháza on the basis of the questionnaire research. The research sheds light on the gaps in young people's financial literacy and areas for further improvement.