In modern economies, the ability to reasonably deal with financial and economic matters is becoming increasingly essential—not just for professionals (e.g., in the sector of investment and banking), but also for every person responsible for managing his or her financial affairs in everyday life. This ability is subsumed under terms like economic competence, economic literacy or financial literacy. The increasing importance of economic competence is driven primarily by various socio-economic factors currently challenging most of the European (and other industrialised) countries. As a result, a wide-ranging transfer of risk has occurred from both governments and employers to employees and consumers (e.g., reduced state-supported pensions, reduced health-care benefits). This imposes onto individuals the responsibility to save for their own financial security. Furthermore, if individuals use the services of financial intermediaries and advisers, they need to understand what is being offered to them. All this is increasingly important when adolescents and young adults are considered, mainly because younger generations are more likely to have to bear more financial risks in adulthood than their parents. Finally yet importantly, financial or – more generally – economic issues play a vital role in current conceptions of citizenship education.

In our symposium we will discuss economic competence and financial literacy from various perspectives, across four European countries and with different methodological approaches.

• In the first paper the question will be answered whether making financial education part of the curriculum in England and Wales has made any difference to its delivery in secondary schools. The constraints and incentives that shape teaching and school management staff’s interpretation of curriculum reform were investigated through multiple case studies of state-maintained secondary schools following the 2014 curriculum reform. Data will be presented at the conference.
• The second paper will explore Italian and Swiss adolescents’ informal conceptions of the European financial and economic crisis. Conceptions will be described and individual differences as well as variations between countries will be presented.
• The third paper will focus on measuring economic competence of German students in vocational schools. We developed an adaptive test with approximately 300 items describing authentic and more or less complex economic situations in private and working life and in society. First results of the calibration study with approximately 1.200 adolescents will be presented.

OECD (2014). PISA 2012 Results:Students and Money Financial Literacy Skills for the 21st CENTURY. Volumen VI. Reifner, Udo 2011: Finanzielle Allgemeinbildung und ökonomische Bildung. In: Retzmann, Thomas (Hrsg.): Finanzielle Bildung in der Schule. Schwalbach/Ts., S. 9-30. Schumann, S. & Eberle, F. (2014). Ökonomische Kompetenzen von Lernenden am Ende der Sekundarstufe II. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 17(1), 103-126. doi:10.1007/s11618-013-0459-0. Soper, J.C., & Walstad, W.B. (1987). Test of Economic Literacy. Second Edition. Examiner's Manual. New York.