Financial education gains ground on the regional agenda for young people’s future

The Americas Business Dialogue’s 2026 recommendations highlight the importance of strengthening financial education and digital skills, particularly among young people and vulnerable populations. Junior Achievement brings to this conversation its experience working with young people across 26 countries in the Americas.

Making sound financial decisions is something we learn. And the earlier that learning begins, the more tools young people have to evaluate options, gain independence, and build their future.

This need is becoming increasingly important on the region’s economic and social agenda.

Junior Achievement is part of the Americas Business Dialogue (ABD), a private sector-led initiative facilitated by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that brings together more than 460 companies and organizations to develop public policy recommendations for governments across the Americas.

In its 2026 recommendations, ABD outlines an agenda to advance regional growth and productivity by addressing three major challenges: improving conditions for investment and entrepreneurship, accelerating technology adoption, and better preparing people for a changing labor market.

Within this third area, one priority is closely connected to Junior Achievement’s work: expanding financial education and digital skills, with a particular focus on young people and vulnerable populations, and integrating them into national education and employment strategies.

From financial education to greater independence

Financial education goes far beyond learning how to manage money.

It means understanding options, anticipating consequences, setting priorities, and making decisions with greater confidence. For a young person, these capabilities can shape everyday choices—from managing a budget or saving toward a goal to making decisions that influence their education, career, or entrepreneurial path.

Expanding access to financial education is, therefore, also a way to expand access to opportunity.

Junior Achievement’s participation in the Americas Business Dialogue allows us to bring to this regional conversation our experience working directly with young people across 26 countries, connecting financial health, work readiness, and entrepreneurship with the challenges they face in their everyday lives.

That experience brings an important perspective to the debate about the region’s future: public policy can create better conditions for growth, but young people also need the skills and confidence to take advantage of those opportunities.

Preparing young people to make better economic decisions from an early age contributes to more than their financial well-being. It gives them greater agency to navigate choices, pursue opportunities, and participate more fully in the economy and in their communities.

Explore the Americas Business Dialogue’s 2026 recommendations