By Paul O’Donoghue
Germany’s Finance Ministry had a viral hit of its own this week with its social post “Looking for a girl in finance.”
The message was a play on this summer’s viral pop hit “Looking for a man in finance” which is a top download globally.
While the message said nothing about being 6ft 5ins, blue eyes or a trust fund, it certainly caught fire on social.
The Bundesministerium der Finanzen (finance ministry) message was around a free workshop with top experts aimed at improving the financial literacy of young women and teenagers.
The workshop, titled: ‘Looking for a girl in finance’ will be held at 16:30 local time on 16 July. It will take place at Vertretung des Landes Hessen beim Bund, a government office in Berlin.
Those interested are able to register here.
The workshop is “explicitly aimed at young women between the ages of 16 and 21”.
“You are cordially invited, no previous knowledge is necessary!” it said.
The body said the idea came after an OECD report on the state of financial literacy in Germany showed that there are “gender-specific differences in financial knowledge”.
“For example, in knowledge of interest rates or risk diversification. Women, but also young people, tend to perform worse in comparative tests,” it said.
“We want to use the event to draw attention to this problem and raise awareness of it.
“Experts in financial education will impart financial education to young women and explain its importance for their own lives.”
The topics covered will include:
- Financial independence
- Financial planning
- Retirement provision
- Investments
- ‘Responsible’ uses of money
The event will feature top female financial experts, including:
- Katja Hessel, the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance. She is a lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2017.
- Profesor Dr. Christine Laudenbach, the Chair of Household Finance at the Goethe University Frankfurt, and director at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Market Research.
- Dr. Birgit Happel, owner of educational body Geldbiografien and a well-known speaker and author in the field of financial education.
- Sophie Thurner, the CEO and co-founder of investment app beatvest and a former employee at Germany’s financial market supervisory authority.
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