Today is National Numeracy Day - a day where we recognise the important role that numbers play in our lives. The aim of the day is to help people sharpen their skills and build their confidence. And to celebrate, we're encouraging our team and the Monzo community to take part in the National Numeracy Challenge.
Why are we supporting National Numeracy?
For too long, banking has been harder than it needs to be. Our mission at Monzo is to make money work for everyone, and this means ensuring that we leave our customers in a position where they understand and have the power to improve their finances. It's why we're running a campaign all around eliminating the barriers to banking by making financial services more accessible.
National Numeracy is an independent charity established in 2012 to help raise low levels of numeracy among both adults and children and to promote the importance of everyday maths skills. They aim to challenge negative attitudes, influence public policy and offer practical ways of helping adults and children improve their numeracy - in the community, the workplace and formal education.
Bobby Seagull, National Numeracy Ambassador, explains one of the reasons why some people might struggle to confront their financial situation:
Maths anxiety
Sweaty palms, racing heart and lumpy feeling in the back of your throat. Unable to think clearly. Maths anxiety can happen to any of us. It's a negative emotional response when dealing with maths and numbers which can occur to children as well as to adults. Many people can remember school experiences struggling in the classroom with long division where maths anxiety may strike, but more recently even splitting a restaurant bill may cause an adverse reaction.
Maths anxiety can lead individuals to decide not to confront anything with numbers - and this includes avoiding looking at bank statements or anything financial.
Financial concerns can cause mental health issues. And in this sense, we should encourage great financial numeracy so that adults feel more equipped to understand their finances.
Bobby Seagull. University Challenge star, maths teacher, author and ambassador for National Numeracy.
Take the challenge!
The National Numeracy Challenge consists of a series of questions to help you assess your numeracy. You'll learn everyday maths, gain confidence, and work towards the basic skills which you need in daily life and the workplace.
You'll also be asked six short questions so that National Numeracy can understand how you feel about maths. Take the challenge here!
Got more ideas for what we can do to support numeracy at Monzo? Let us know over on our forum!