Impact of Socioeconomic and Macroeconomic Conditions on the Financial Literacy of Students Assessed by Pisa

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between students’ performance on the PISA financial literacy test in 2012, 2015, and 2018, with the socioeconomic characteristics of the participants and macroeconomic indicators of their countries of origin. The average PISA performance in financial knowledge of students from 30 OECD member and partner countries in the years was analyzed. Based on mean difference tests and multivariate panel regression models, it was concluded that the socioeconomic and macroeconomic context in which the student is inserted is directly related to their financial knowledge. Students who were native, economically favored, and residents of large cities showed better performance and a statistically higher average score compared to immigrant students, low-income students, or residents of medium or small cities. It was also found that the financial performance of these students is impacted by the countries’ income inequality indices, negatively influencing those with the worst distributions.