There’s one family-related employee benefit that, although it does not get as much attention as paid parental leave, can have a huge impact on employees’ children’s lives: financial literacy education.  With job candidates no longer focusing solely on salary but also on the benefits accompanying a job offer, employers are seeking new benefits to attract and retain talented employees.

Family-related benefits, such as paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers, adoption benefits and child care flex spending accounts, are becoming more popular in workplaces. However, there is one family-related benefit that is not discussed as often, yet it can make a tremendously positive impact in the lives of your employees’ children.

Financial literacy education for children is desperately needed in our country. Only 17 states require high school students to take a course in personal finance, according to the Council for Economic Education’s 2016 Survey of the States. Parents know they should be doing more to educate their children on personal finance topics, but they are either reluctant or don’t know how to talk to their children about money.

Employers’ Role in Financial Literacy for Children

Children form most of their financial behaviors by age 7, according to the University of Cambridge. These deep-rooted beliefs will shape their lives as they grow into adulthood and will play a major role in how they deal with finances. Moreover, their longstanding effects will last long past adulthood. Their formed financial beliefs can affect their children, grandchildren and future generations past them. How parents talk to their children about money is a boundless matter. Despite this information, nearly 75 percent of parents are reluctant to talk to their children about finances, according to a 2015 study conducted by T. Rowe Price.

Employers are in an ideal position to offer family-focused financial literacy workshops as a benefit to the parents, and even grandparents, in their organization. After all, 93 percent of companies intend to focus on the financial wellbeing of their employees in a way that extends beyond retirement, according to an Aon Hewitt survey. Family-focused financial education is becoming an increasingly popular benefit for employers to offer. Just as employees find value in personal financial education offered by their employers, this type of family-focused financial training empowers them to help them raise financially fit children.

Read more: http://www.workforce.com/2018/02/08/value-family-related-benefits-financial-literacy-programs/