’S N E R D L I CH F O G N I D AN T S R E D L N A U I C N A N FI D N A K R WO E G D E L W KNO
KIDZANIA CONGREZZ 2018
H REPORT RESEARC 2018
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CCHILDREN’S UNDERSTANDING OF WORK AND FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE
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INTRODUCTION
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his research was developed due to KidZania’s interest in knowing how children aged 7 to 12 understand the concepts of work and money, along with the values, roles and implications of these topics in the corresponding surroundings. Qualitative and quantitative exploration was conducted in 8 KidZania facilities in 5 different countries, including: United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Mexico ( two in Mexico City and Monterrey), India (Mumbai and Delhi), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and Singapore (Singapore). The group distribution in gender and age brackets (7 to 9 and 10 to 12 years old) were maintained across the board. Both topics, work and financial knowledge, where evaluated separately to further understand children’s perceptions, and concerns on both concepts. Through this research we wanted to know what does money mean to children? How do kids perceive the world of work? And finally, what is the role of KidZania in helping children to have a
better understanding of these topics? After the sessions, we learned that children (generation Z) confront their financial reality. They have a clear notion of what money stands for, its value and social implication. However, they perceive the financial world as a complex social construction; perception probably generated by their parents since discussing money with them is still a taboo topic in some countries. These findings appeared as spontaneous reappearing constants throughout the whole research and led to other questions like: What variables affect their perception on money and work? Do children have financial habits? If they do, how are these habits instilled? The answer to these questions is presented below along with interesting data regarding how this young generation faces their financial reality and their expectations towards the world of work.
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NG I D N A T S DER N U L A R GENE ’S N E R D L I EY N O M OF CH H T WI P I H S N O RELATI
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o generate complexity conducive to relevant findings or discoveries, it was necessary to begin by the simplest question. Our starting point could not have been any other:
What does money mean to children? Spontaneously, children mentioned positive-charged, symbolic and functional values: • Being smarter / more intelligent • Buying / having new stuff • Having power • Being greater • It is the most important thing • A piece of paper with value Beyond their literal expressions, the way they talk about money reveals a very powerful emotional charge: children really like talking about money in their own terms, according to their tradition, education, or culture.
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It is obvious that children have a clear notion of what money stands for: • Possibilities • Empowerment • Enhancer • Joy • Enabler We also learned that financial culture is very much present in today’s children, even if usually in a basic stage; regardless of age, children are fully aware of the value of money and its role as part of society. To them, the first point of contact with money is spending, since this is the practical way within their reach that allows them to give money certain value. In other words, when they buy, it is because money serves a purpose; a clear and explicit purpose. Money is not just an inexistent accumulation or symbolic power; so to speak, money becomes money when used.
oney to m e s u I “ gets” buy gad
my “I spend ndy, on ca money books” toys, or
However, that perception of money faces a crisis when digging deeper into relationship, interaction, or accumulation. We noticed that children also use several, “adult” expressions and replicate the deontological discourse learned from their parents, especially at lower SELs; for example: “Not everything in life is about money; love and family matter more.” The way children all over the world establish their relationship with money largely depends on their capacity for abstraction, which in turn is mainly defined by their age and life stage. At the risk of stating the obvious, this means the older the child, the more complex and personal their ability to understand, manage, and
relate to money. As they grow, they distance themselves from what they learned from their elders and start interacting with money in more intimate, diversified ways.
AGE - FINANCIAL CULTURE (-)
(+) 7-9
10-12
They see it, but they don’t know it. They know litlle about how it works.
First transactions. A clear notion of value.
“I get an allowance of $1 dollar and I buy a candy with that.”
“I spend around $3 dollars each week on a candy and other stuff.”
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“Money is important, but family is more important” It is important to remark that children aged 9 to 12 establish a closer relationship to the world of money.It is during this life stage that children start noticing the importance and need for money in their lives, as well as the role that money plays in the social dynamics they see around themselves in the traditional and digital media:
ney, “No mo ” no food
serves to “Money rything e v e r o f pay ” at home
Therefore, children’s worries about the financial world change and accumulate in each life stage, growing in complexity as they grow. We can thus ascertain that, while the main issue for children aged 7 to 9 is their parents’ liquidity, concerns for those aged 10 to 12 cohort relate to product prices and their personal ability to save money.
Thus, children quote ‘large-scale’ examples to reconfirm those ideas; for example: “If we don’t save money, we can’t go on vacation” But in reality, it is the more common or usual situations the ones that have a greater financial impact in their lives by being more clearly seized and sized. In other words, money – and the ways to obtain it – stop being an abstraction and becomes something tangible:
ey, you n o m t u “Witho nd may a t a e t ’ can starve” u’ll oney, yo m t u o h live “Wit place to o” o n e v ha ob ll be a h ’ u o y d an
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By diving deeper into the meaning they see in money through their everyday lives, children become aware of its emotional impact for them.
y s you bu lp e h y nd “Mone need, a u o y g in ou everyth t gives y a h t , y a in a w ss” happine ns ey mea n o m e r mo r a bette “Having o t o g you can herefore, get a and t ake school, re you m e h w b better jo e money” mor
, t money “Withou omfort, oc there’s n most but the life things in t n a t r o imp ’t buy” you can
However, children understand that in the case of adults, money plays a different role, since it is part of their obligations as grown-ups to satisfy their own needs and the ones of their children: “It’s the most important thing to help put food on our table; it’s something you need and it’s their job…” / “It’s necessary to spoil us.”
Only 12% of surveyed children mentioned living under constant financial stress — with a very similar percentage (11%) of children saying they live free from such concerns.
As a consequence of the financial world’s central role in adult life, children start building the idea that money has negative or less positive implications and, further, start seeing money as a possible source of conflict based on their experiences at home: “It’s a concern because you need to pay the bills and that sometimes causes trouble in families.”
Two out of five children say that seeing their parents’ worrying is their main source of money-related stress.
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Children clearly understand that the use of money depends on your life stage and the role you play in the family’s financial dynamics in a more vertical logic: adults are in charge of getting, distributing, handling, and deciding how to manage money, whereas their role as children is to look for ways to (nearly always) convince their parents – or close relatives – to give them money. It is precisely at these ‘negotiation’ occasions that children “question” the arguments received from their parents. The lack of a clearer financial education from adults means that children have weaker, grounded-value judgments than actual arguments:
ts on me e g m o “M ys e she sa s u a c e b d a lot an I spend then ad, but b s ’ t a h t s buying y a lw a she’s mes and u f r e p lf herse stuff”
Can you buy me a candy?
Whatever your mom says
Ask your dad
You should better save it and then you can buy it
I have no money right now
always “Dad is saving is e m g , tellin e future h t r o f d s, goo ver save e n e h t bu elf uys hims b e h d an ” llar shirts o d 0 5 1 $
This doublespeak produces in children uncertainty and tension arising from an antagonist and somewhat polarizing relationship to the financial world, since they lack the ability to discern between their parents’ words and examples.
They directly enjoy the benefits of having and using money
They indirectly suffer the adults’ stress of not having money
However, we did identify certain signs of a broader financial culture in children who are constantly and directly in touch with money — i.e. those developing in settings where more open-family-communication dynamics prevail.
Nine out of ten children look to their parents when facing financial questions because they are their most trusted source.
We observed that when parents show a clearer attitude about the topic, they nurture positive attitudes in their children, since both their instructions and examples are clearer. This prevents money from being seen as a source of trouble or stress and helps them have a simpler, more accessible, and everyday relationship / interaction.
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And, while this is not an exclusive condition, this “healthier” relationship was more evident in children from families at higher SELs, since they live in more stable situations that translate into certain values and attitudes favoring their approach to the financial world. This closeness and access undoubtedly allow them to develop with greater security around the subject, giving them better examples about saving and its benefits.
Safety
They directly enjoy the benefits of having and using money
Children reveal that 2 out of every 3 financial comments they heard from their parents relate to savings.
“My parents tell me that I need to save money and that is why they opened a bank account for me...”
Openness “I sometimes know they have a little more money because that’s when they take me to KidZania.”
Confidence “I sometimes go with them to pay the electricity or the internet service.”
However, even in 2019, discussing money as a family – and more clearly with the children – remains a taboo: parents convey their feelings to their children, and kids develop a negative perception, naturally connected to the financial world based on their learnings and experiences at home.
Tension
“My parents say it’s rude to talk about money.”
Concern “I think they do not want us to see them worried about that.”
Gossip
“Whenever they talk about the accounts, they send us to our room...”
Indifference “They say that is just for adults.”
They indirectly suffer the adults’ stress of not having money
70% of all surveyed children say their parents speak with them about money only occasionally or sporadically.
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Sociocultural conditions lead to obvious differences in the way children get their financial education. In Dubai, for example, only one out of ten children say their parents discuss money before them often; and two out of every three respondents prefer discussing financial topics with their father as opposed to their mother, as a result of the dominant social structure. In the rest of the countries, children’s relationships with their parents around financial learnings at home is different. In Malaysia and Mexico, one out of every five children admitted consulting their parents on the matter.
This phenomenon is stronger in Latin America, a region where 50% of children –on average– go to their moms for advice on money-related topics. This is because many of the children from medium or low SELs have experienced critical episodes at home due to lack of money. This tension is expressed in their everyday relationship to money, not only because of their immediate interaction but because of the possible future consequences of their parents’ current financial decisions, which have led them to experience the fear of what it means to be poor.
Paradoxically, we have identified that children perceive themselves as “good with money”, because of the meaning they assign to it; they even have arguments to support this statement, like: their ‘income’, their level of spending, and their ability to save.
Only 15% of all children think they aren’t good with money.
For kids, it was surprising to find out they have several – though irregular – ‘income sources’: contrary to what they imagined, without substantial differences between different SELs, children have more ways to get capital than their parents do:
KIDS
PARENTS
Income Expenses
Saving Capacity
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A very stark cultural difference was identified in India. For children in this country, in an evident contrast vis-à-vis Western culture, getting money for home chores brings a reaction of rejection. Instead, in more Western countries, this is a usual expectation for children. Likewise, children are aware that their expenses – and their responsibilities – are significantly lower than those of adults, based on a logical association with the way they view the adult world: more responsibilities = more expenses. This is a feeling all children share, regardless of their age or economic position.
KIDS
PARENTS
Income
Expenses Saving Capacity
Differences among SELs appear when discussing savings, since children see saving as something not everyone can afford. They know that not all families have the conditions or ability, because of their circumstances, contexts, and limitations. Nonetheless, kids are aware that saving is necessary to live a more peaceful and “better life”.
50% of all surveyed children said ‘working more’ means having more money, while only 1 out of 4 thinks saving is the way to accumulate more money.
MID-HIGH SELs
LOWER SELs
Income
Expenses
Saving Capacity All of these leads to a paradox where children live and experience, but are not aware of the following: “How come kids don’t have more money?”
So, what role does KidZania play in building a financial culture for children? At KidZania, the main learning is the construction of the value of work, which helps to build a mentality based on a more realistic approach, one that allows children to understand that socioeconomic differences are the result of different factors. At the same time, their ‘experience’ at KidZania facilities teaches them that making more money is not gratuitous or random:
VALUE OF WORK
Children have worked Children had more work
Children have been paid more
Children had studied more
Because of their efforts
Children have saved
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At KidZania, children also observe and learn a way to break away from the adult discourse that ‘life did not provide poor people with the opportunity to develop’. For them, better education can mean a better job, which may in turn mean, for example, better income.
The youngest children (7 to 9 years old) also recognized that KidZania helps them promoting a culture of saving. Though with few arguments, children stand by their position that the most important thing they have learned is to take care of money and, secondly, not to spend it on things they do not need.
What activities does KidZania perform to strengthen this belief in children? Going to school as a mechanism to access better jobs.
o to ”If you g , college y you they pa more”
The oldest kids start approaching fiscal matters.
x to the ta o g u o y “If money t e g u o office, y at’s what back; th es and do n my dad we go o t a h w s that’ n with” vacatio
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Teaching is the act of communicating to others a concept or a group of ideas, values, principles etc. negatives this implies: Hence, learning would be the relationship between teaching and education, it is a complex and personal process in which the individual learns ideas, principles or conducts and gives them a practical use.
Understanding Children’s Construction of Work and Perception of Value For children, work is a strictly transactional activity, a perception learned from adults at home and other contexts. This determines not only their interaction but their aspirations, dreams, and desires about the job and compensation they must or want to get. We perceived there is a bias–prejudice in children regarding the value of work. At home, they have learned that not everyone is ‘worth’ the same — that certain prestige or reputation precedes them and generates a social impact that they have internalized. However, they replicate the adult discourse that “every job has dignity” as a form of resignation, or as a politically correct gesture. How do children express this? Value scales are based on the price-time it takes to accumulate the following attributes:
PERCEIVED VALUE [OF WORKING] (-)
(+) Effort Recognition Social Impact Specialization Remuneration Risks
It is worth mentioning that money is a concern for children because they understand that this is not their responsibility–obligation and they hand over this concern to their parents, or to adults overall. They share the notion that making money is not a part of their role as children and they assume themselves as receptors, not as producers or providers, of money. They have been raised in a culture where financial concerns solely fall on adult shoulders. In fact, children are unconsciously grateful for the statement or idea that “you don’t talk money in front of children”, because they know this concern will come later. This somewhat distant relationship to money generates ambiguous-value scales: children have a hard time defining something as ‘cheap’ and they also struggle to clearly define something as ‘expensive’. In practice, the value perception scale is quite broad and imprecise because children fail to appreciate what there is behind the amount they pay for something: time, effort, knowledge. Their appreciation of this tends to be limited to just a number.
, I’d a million for d a h I If “ ve part, sa a e t a n, n do ducatio e e g e ll rt” my co other pa n a d n e and sp
, f money o s t lo d r “If I ha a socce e k li e v f I’d li ve lots o a h , r e y pla l” nd trave a , s g in th
This is stressed in the media they are exposed to, which present certain behavior models and discourses regarding money, both positive and relatively negative.
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Nevertheless, beyond the more laidback role, there is a notion of the different factors affecting the process and price differences among what they know: • Advertising • Quality • Processes • Ingredients • Brands • Exclusiveness Which lets them create a very personal scale where price, work, time, and value intervene.
hey sell t y d n a ac “It’s like it’s really d n a , e t er everywh ause it’s not tha ec at cheap b probably not th e d on tasty, an ... An iPh e k a m o et use expensiv xpensive beca e is a is more , which le p p t A the mos it’s from , d n a r b ers, pular d to oth e very po r a p m y ive co ll it at an e s innovat t ’ n o yd and the store”
How do children understand money? Based on the time it takes to accumulate an amount.
op e, a lollip c n a t s in um “For ewing g h h c e m o or s , whic 2 pesos $ g in t s ” co heap… is very c
osting “A ball c pesos $100 around f cheap o d in k l il is st t e it’s no s u a c e b at to get th d r a h t tha …” amount
a V set or T a w o “N are e, those n o h p ll se ce e becau 0 iv s n e p x e 0,00 st like $1 o c y e h t h is like a ic h w , s peso e” lot for m
e or a “A hom re worth a g in d il bu like money, f o t lo a lion, and $400 mil bviously ids o we as k ve that can’t ha ey…” on much m
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How does KidZania influence children’s perception of work? Children know that work is the main source of income once they grow up, which is why even now they are starting to plan their future as workers, mainly focusing on their salary expectations, though many are also starting to face s certain debates about urecalling. are ctheir
“There atments and trehas However, KidZania opened broader iseases d y n a horizons offo working r m optionsesfor e them that th compensation o t s k are based not just on their n a th ents”purpose. but on enjoyment aspam grand develo CITY) (MEXICO
We identified that cultural differences have a direct impact on children’s expectations and first future plans, specially when it comes to the jobs they imagine having. In Asia, one third of children want to have the same job as their parents; in Mexico, it is only one out of six. In contrast, children in Dubai show less concern about this subject; only one out of three has already thought about what their job will be as adults. Also, it is obvious that the proportion grows in function of their number of visits to KidZania, since those children who state a clearer intent to look for a job different from their parents’ profession are those who visit the park more often.
to be “I want e nd, onc a r o t c o ey, ad t of mon lo a e v I ha my I’ll open spital” own ho p, I grow u in “When a chef e b o t t y I wan ause the c e b a ic Amer ey, but n o m f o ts and make lo n is art, io s s a p an my y I’ll be h w s ’ t a th about artist in later” 10 years
In other words, even though children know certain jobs, professions, and trades could imply a higher income for them in their adult lives, they aspire to do things that are interesting or significant to them and will lead to other things: “Doing interesting stuff that allowes me to do what I really want to do…” Children assign a greater value to the experience of a certain profession/ trade based on how interesting, challenging, or fun it is. Kids believe that the better the experience, the greater their economic compensation will be, since they assume that salary is complementary to the experience.
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How can children build a more solid economic personality? Even though children don’t worry about money directly, we identified that those kids that are in touch with it have a more ‘controlled’ mindset in financial terms. Money helps them develop attitudes like: • Recognizing the value of earning ‘their money’ by working • Having a clearer idea of what to do with the money they own • Trying to make ‘better purchases- expenditures’ • Avoid making excessive expenses • Expressing a greater security and confidence when discussing their savings
9 out of 10 visitors stated that KidZania has helped them to improve their ability to save in real-life
We identified that this phenomenon could also be reinforced when children interact with a representation of money, as in the case of kidZos at KidZania. The confidence gained by being in control of their earnings makes children more familiar with the management, abstraction, and planning they can translate into their real-world experience.
The value of work is also transferred to money and the way they use money, whether by saving or spending it. In other words, work, money, and savings take on a new level of importance, since these events are relevant on their own, but acquire a greater role when combined — the whole will always be greater than the sum of the parts.
e thing I’v e n o e is “Th KidZania , t a d e n lear razy nd like c e p s o t ow not now I kn e s u a s c be y implie e n o m making work”
Hence, the overall experience at KidZania allows children to haver a better understanding of each stage of work, from its performance to payment; seeing it as process instead of as isolated events, thus strengthening the value of work and the importance of developing responsible financial habits.
I came e im t t s ir “F y ent all m p s I , e r g he somethin n o y e n mo rtment a p e d e from th ave it so s I w o n store; mething o s y u b I can ter…” better la
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S T N E EDGEM
L W O ACKN This report would not have been possible without the invaluable support of various people, whom we acknowledge in this section.
KidZania CongreZZ: KidZania Cuicuilco CongreZZ Kids KidZania Delhi CongreZZ Kids KidZania Dubai CongreZZ Kids KidZania Kuala Lumpur CongreZZ Kids KidZania Monterrey CongreZZ Kids KidZania Mumbai CongreZZ Kids KidZania Santa Fe CongreZZ Kids KidZania Singapore CongreZZ Kids Authors José Antonio Turueño Juan José Cue Diego Mejía Researchers Juan José Cue Sandra Montes de Oca Berenice Cruz Alejandra Curiel Lucero López Editors Diego Mejía Carla Alcaraz All the information contained in this document and all intellectual property rights are the exclusive property of KidZania, S.A. de C.V.; protected by intellectual property law, in Mexico and worldwide. Any unauthorized redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited. KidZania, S.A.P.I. de C.V. All rights reserved. Mexico City, 2019.