One in three post-primary students now say they learn about money from social media. This statistic, among several recent findings from the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, offers a stark insight into students’ attitudes to finance. But this isn’t so much a financial literacy problem or a simple change in how a generation learns about money, as a shift in what money has become. During the pandemic, many young people encountered financial markets for the first time, often through apps on the same phones they used for social media. This helps explain not only the popularity of social media advice but also the obsession with crypto, investment, side hustles and passive income.

Source: The Irish Times April 02, 2026 00:14 UTC