Abstract:

In the recent years, financial literacy is considered more and more as one of the important factors affecting the stability of both the national and global economic system. Many researches and theoretical works aim to define the category of financial literacy on the one side and on the other side to identify the level of financial literacy in various conditions including the factors that influence on its level.
Our study aims to find out if and how the level of financial literacy of young people changes depending on the different level of school, on the field of study and on the place where they live.
The research methodology was based on the questionnaire survey, in which the solution of the model situations was asked. These citations were based on the definition of financial literacy made by OECD (OECD, 2012). Attention was paid to the knowledge area of financial literacy, namely to the knowledge, which can help in the area of financial decision-making (appropriate to their age) and thus protect them from possible problems. Some questions were aimed to personal attitudes towards selected areas, e. g. financial planning or personal goals.
The target group was the students in the last years of the primary and the secondary schools and at universities. The secondary schools and universities had various professional orientations that operate in different regions of the Czech Republic.
The questionnaire survey was conducted using an electronic form. The link to the questionnaire was directly sent electronically to primary, secondary schools and universities. A total of 1,250 respondents answered the questionnaire. The structure of respondents included relatively equal proportions of education levels, fields of study and individual regions.
The data obtained were evaluated using statistical methods, including a two-sample Student's t-test.
The results confirmed our hypothesis that there are differences in the level of financial literacy as a result of the level of school/students age: the level of financial literacy increases with the age of students. The influence of the professional orientation was not confirmed: the level of financial literacy was not identified as higher in the school with economic orientation. An important factor that influenced the level of financial literacy was related to regional specificities: students from larger cities and more industrially developed regions showed a higher level of financial literacy.
The results and conclusions have many limitations that lie mainly in the number and structure of respondents and also in the construction of the questionaire (in the formulation of tasks and model situation), which tests the students´ ability to make financial decision. However, despite these limitations, we believe that the obtained data can be a stimulus for further research work in this area.

Keywords:

Financial literacy, factors influencing the financial literacy, professional orientation, regional factors.