How can all young people be included in the design of new financial products and services?
The following three elements were particularly highlighted during the Futuremakers Forum, though many others exist:
Young Futuremakers Participants Ifaenyi Obi Oscar and Tiza Mbale both implored financial actors to provide more choice and opportunities to those with disabilities.
As Tiza explained: “I have a desire to go to college. But because I'm visually impaired, the programmes I can do are restricted to joining a teaching program or a telephone operating programme, [and] I'm not interested in either. So how do I get the liberty to choose a career of my choice despite my disability?”
Ifaenyi Obi Oscar confirmed this: “There are a lot of people who are not working, there are a lot of people who want to learn skills, yet nobody wants to sponsor them, especially when you look at people with disabilities.”
The challenge young people face in accessing finance is even more pronounced for marginalised women from underserved communities.
Vallerie Thomas, young Futuremakers Participant in Malaysia, explained: “Young people, individuals, and women specifically who don't have enough proper formal education must be equipped with in-demand skills or given the job opportunities to be able to finance themselves and their loved ones. They also must be offered investment instruments to multiply their income and savings.”
Lindsey Block, Head of Partnerships and Capacity Building for Primark, went further, describing research that found—contrary to the common assumption that electronic banking improves women’s independence—female workers with bank accounts become more vulnerable as their husbands can more easily see their earnings and exert control.
Dr Anna Barford, Bye Fellow in Geography, Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, highlighted that young people especially have home-work-life situations that are often transient and shifting. She suggests that: “Many young people have low incomes from a portfolio of livelihood activities and little collateral. Inclusive financial services for young people should be designed with [that] in mind.”
