Please, some financial education 

Amid the debate on the changes that need to be made in education to reverse the low standards of Catalan students, 11Onze’s Director of Content and Media, Toni Mata, poses a new question: why aren’t the citizens of the future being educated financially?

So much has been said about the poor results of Catalan students in the PISA report that it seems the only solution will be to keep talking. Parole, parole, parole, as Xavier Massó of “Profesores de Secundaria” paraphrased a few days ago on Rac1. The truth is that suddenly, the country seems to be worried that young people don’t understand what they read. Is it a surprise? Is anyone interested in the new citizens learning something that will make them capable of living a fruitful life, as free and happy as possible? If this were the case, surely the educational curriculum would be quite different and financial education would surely play a central role.

In Catalonia, young people leave secondary school and high school without knowing how to read a payslip. Without understanding how taxes are calculated or what they do. Without having the remotest idea of how unemployment benefits or sick leave are calculated. Not understanding how money is created, what inflation is or how interest on a loan is calculated. How can our children be free citizens if they are unable to understand how to manage a commodity as essential to their lives as money? Some will say that in the humanistic and social baccalaureate, there is a subject of economics. And that is true. Well, not to worry then, I’m sure these students will teach it to the students of the other modalities.

And the adults?

They do not fare very well. According to OECD studies, only 34% of European adults have a minimum knowledge of financial literacy. It is most probably this widespread lack of knowledge that makes it possible for us to give so little importance to financial education. Secondary schools can indeed ask to participate in the financial education programme in schools. But here we are: which schools will ask about it if it is optional? How many workshops will be offered? And, above all, who will teach them? Behind the financial education programme in schools offered by the Generalitat, there are all the big Spanish and Spanish banks (formerly Catalan and Spanish). Are we really going to entrust the financial education of our sons and daughters to workshops given by bankers? And to what extent will the bankers be interested in our sons and daughters questioning whether the current model is acceptable?

It is frankly disheartening to see how the Department of Education fails to provide our children with the minimum tools to understand the world and to flourish by themselves. But all of this makes great systemic sense because it guarantees generations of dependent and therefore very complacent citizens. If you don’t know how the world works, it is impossible to change it.

But everybody relax! The Department of Education announced the creation of a commission of experts where, for sure, there will be representatives of prestigious foundations which in turn are full of more experts and which are very well-endowed with grants. So when they meet in this commission they will be very happy and no one will raise their hand to ask if they have to hire experts, commissions and foundations to do the work of the Department of Education, what exactly is the Department of Education for? So we could go back to financial education, and we would realise that knowing how public money is managed is also a dangerous subject because someone might ask these kinds of questions that are not in anybody’s interest.

Let’s try to find a solution

At 11Onze, we have been committed to financial education since the beginning. There are courses available in Learn, we started to roll out the 11Onze School project, we launched the series El Diner, and we continue to educate and inform about economics and finance every day through 11Onze Magazine. We try to make the economy understandable so that citizens can make informed decisions.

But the absolute truth is that we citizens are on our own. And that the years go by and the feeling of loneliness increases. And that there is only one way forward: to come together and make an effort. Hence, 11Onze’s desire to create a financially educated community. Only education will set us free. And quite clearly, this is the problem.

11Onze és la fintech comunitària de Catalunya. Obre un compte descarregant l’app El Canut per Android o iOS. Uneix-te a la revolució!

Through 11Onze Segurs you can insure your vehicle with the Catalan mutual insurance company Mussap with a 5% discount. Founded in 1932 in Barcelona as a mutual for agricultural work, it had the support of Francesc Macià and has recently been recognised with the EthSI stamp of ethical quality.

One of 11Onze’s objectives is to offer its community products of the highest quality, which fit in with its values and are competitively priced. For this reason, a few months ago we launched 11Onze Segurs to offer an alternative to the people of La Plaça, also in terms of insurance. We have achieved it through a collaboration with the Catalan mutual insurance company Mussap, founded in 1932 in the presence of President Francesc Macià.

In conversation with the commercial director of Mussap, Marc Castell, we analysed the strong points of the insurance offered through 11Onze Segurs: maximum coverage at competitive prices. “The price indeed depends on the type of driver and vehicle”, says Castell, “but in some segments we are below the market average”.

Mussap’s values

The company stands out for its quality, transparency and its roots in the country. “We have our own offices in all the Catalan capitals and we are present throughout the country. We are very transparent about our identity and feel very involved in a society that not only saw our birth but has also empowered us to grow with its trust“, says Castell. In this sense, the vision is very close to that of 11Onze, which has as one of its objectives to stimulate the Catalan economy. This obviously involves consuming local goods and services.

In addition, Mussap’s quality has recently been endorsed with the awarding of the EthSI stamp of approval. This is a ratification of ethical and solidarity-based quality that assesses the degree of transparency and good practices carried out by insurance companies, insurance brokers and the products they market.

Digital and with discount

If you want to find out how much it would cost to insure your vehicle with 11Onze Segurs and Mussap, you can visit 11Onze Segurs where you will find a simulator. Just for being a member of 11Onze, you will get an additional 5% discount on the price of the annual premium. With 11Onze Segurs and Mussap all the procedures can be done swiftly. For example, you can make a claim online or call the helpline.

To learn more about Mussap’s product and vision, you can listen to the conversation on 11Onze Podcast. Marco Castell, commercial director of the mutual, wanted to make sure we understand the experience and identity of Mussap: “You will not find an entity that is more than 90 years old that continues to be itself, maintaining its essence, without having been absorbed or merged. We are a brand with a lot of personality, identity and independence”.

If you want to discover the best insurance for your vehicle, go to 11Onze Segurs, insurances with 11Onze values.

11Onze Recommends, at the request of the community, has managed to get the provider to further improve Litigation Funding: you can now access the product with family or friends to get higher returns on your savings. The returns are quadruple the average returns of Spanish banks.

Litigation Funding is one of 11Onze Recommend’s most requested products, a fact that gives us the strength to ask for improvements from our provider. In this regard, some users noted that the best yields are achieved for higher amounts, which is a barrier to entry for many people.

As 11Onze’s chief financial officer, Farhaan Mir, explains: “To access the 9% per annum you have to contribute 25,000 euros and many people don’t have these amounts, but they also deserve to be able to save. So we thought, what can we do? We can’t ask for the amount to be reduced, but we can ask for it to be contributed by several people, so that, several people in the same family, or a group of friends, can save together. Each one with their documentation, transferring their amount and receiving the corresponding earnings in their account. The only requirement is that the aggregate amount corresponds to the amounts set by the provider.

Quadrupling the returns offered by banks

This move by 11Onze Recommends gives its community access to a savings product unheard of in the country. In October 2023, Spanish banks increased the interest paid to their clients, but they remain the lowest-yielding banks in Europe, offering an average yield of 2.3%. Litigation Funding, therefore, almost quadruples what Spanish banks offer and does so with extra security, as the funds are insured to cover the principal.

Community-saving

11Onze is thus reinforcing its community vision by now offering community-saving. “You no longer have to save alone and miss out on the best offers because you don’t have enough money. This would be unfair. Everyone should be able to save”, says Farhaan Mir. The product offered by our UK provider has become one of the star savings products. To find out more about the product, you need to be a member of 11Onze and go to the Litigation Funding section on our website.

If you are already a member of La Plaça you can request more information from our provider.

The Organisation of Consumers and Users, OCU, calculates that families have to invest €530 for each child at the start of the school year. The whole school year will cost €2,728 in Catalonia. But going back to school can cost just €57 thanks to Better Shelter and 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves.

1.3 million pupils have already returned to the classrooms in Catalonia and, although the number of pupils is down, there will be 1,200 more teachers. Everyone is getting back to their work and educational routine in a school year in which many families have been able to benefit from the school voucher for materials.

Even so, the start of the school year is always a financial challenge for families, at a time of lower savings due to increased spending during the holidays. This year prices continue to rise due to inflation and the OCU has calculated that each family will need €530 to face the start of the school year. We are talking about the cost of enrolment, materials, canteen and extracurricular activities. In total, the average cost of the school year in Catalonia will be €2,728 per child. If we break down this average, it turns out that in public schools the cost will be €1,060, in state-subsidised schools €3,045 and in private schools €7,030.

These are figures that make anecdotal the cost per pupil of the Shelter Schools that 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves promotes with Better Shelter. These are classrooms to be built in a refugee camp in northern Syria for pupils who lost their school in the February 2023 earthquakes. The aim is to raise €100,000 to create 50 schools to cater for 1,750 children. The cost per pupil is therefore €57, including the construction of the classroom.

Catalan families are facing a major expense at the start of the school year. From 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves, we ask for this extra effort so that these students can also have a school year, like any other student.

Enter and make a donation at 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves.

In 11Onze Podcast we spoke with Miguel Acebrón García de Eulate, from Better Shelter, to learn how the Shelter Schools change the dynamics in refugee camps. The objective is to create 50 classrooms so that 1,750 boys and girls affected by the earthquakes can resume their classes.

11Onze stands up for the creatures of northern Syria by collaborating with Better Shelter. The Swedish entity’s shelters have been internationally recognized for changing the concept of refugee camps. In this case, the typical tents that we associate with temporary camps are not installed, but a more resistant and durable solution is provided.

In a conversation with Better Shelter’s Technical Customer Success Manager, Miguel Acebron Garcia de Eulate, he explained what they wanted by designing this type of shelter: “We were looking for a different solution. For us there are two pillars, safety and dignity”. That is why it is a rigid shelter, not made of cloth. They are designed to last and guarantee the security and privacy of their users.

The change of education

11Onze has specifically requested that the shelters that the community send to Syria be to build classrooms so that the boys and girls can return to class. From Better Shelter, this action is highly valued because education, they say, changes the dynamics in the camps. According to Miguel Acebron García de Eulate: “There is a substantial change when there is an education system. When children have access to education they begin to have routines, play with other children, learn and continue their education. But it is also good for parents, because they have time and know that their children are safe. Schools change the dynamic.”

The transparency of donations

A differential fact of the 11Onze s’Arremanga and Better Shelter project is the absolute transparency of the costs. The 11Onze s’Arremanga page lists the prices of each of the elements needed to make a shelter. As Miguel Acebron García de Eulate explained: “This way people have an orientation that will translate the amount they give us.”

In the conversation that you can find on the 11Onze Podcast, Miguel also explained that the refugee camps must be more and more resistant because this apparently transitory situation tends to last longer. In fact, in central Africa, there are already cases of people who have been born and have spent their entire lives in a camp. As he indicated, the hardest thing for refugees is uncertainty: “Refugees live in great uncertainty. They don’t know how long they will be in that situation, if they will have to migrate again or not, where their relatives are, what their livelihoods are… They have many doubts about the future”.

When a Better Shelter arrives at a camp, you have to imagine that a box arrives like the ones you receive when you buy furniture from Ikea. It is not trivial that the famous Swedish company is one of the main promoters of Better Shelter. Then, the construction of the shelter begins: text-free instructions and simple assembly make it possible for the refugees themselves to participate in the construction of their shelters. It is a way of feeling useful and being paid for a day’s work.

The shelters promoted by 11Onze s’Arremanga and Better Shelter seek to give a dignified and safe life to children in northern Syria who saw how their lives changed abruptly due to the earthquakes. Donations of any amount can be made, the goal is to reach 100,000 euros to be able to install 50 shelter schools to care for 1,750 children.

The school year is coming to an end and the holidays begin. This year Catalans will spend, on average, 1,203 euros. This money will be used to pay for summer camps, flights, hotels, restaurants and other activities. Even so, some children have neither school nor holidays, so, can we add a touch of solidarity to our holiday spending?

During the summer holidays, many families will spend large amounts of money on getaways, summer camps and recreational activities. According to data from a study carried out by the Cetelem Observatory, Catalans will spend, on average, 1,203 euros on summer holidays. Most of the people surveyed plan to spend their money eating out in restaurants (68.3%). They are followed by those who will spend it shopping (39.6%) or travelling (36%).

With the end of the school year, however, comes the added expense of looking after children until the adults’ holidays begin. Many families opt to sign them up for summer activities, such as summer camps. Therefore, a family with two children can easily spend an additional 1,000 euros. According to the association Educació 360, taking children to campus involves an average weekly cost of 77 euros, while if you opt for summer camps, the figure rises to 354 euros per week.

In this context, perhaps we should all make a reflection: while we spend this money to have a good time or to improve our children’s education, why not allocate a small part of our budget to help children who are not lucky enough to enjoy these same opportunities and privileges? Can we afford it? Can we afford not to?

How do I go about it? It’s time to roll up our sleeves

The summer solstice marks the transition from spring to summer, but it also represents a moment of rebalancing, of new beginnings. At 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves, in collaboration with Better Shelter, we have made this feeling our own by launching an initiative to give a new start to the children affected by the earthquakes in Syria.

We want to do our bit to build 50 shelter schools that can help provide safe spaces and education for 1,750 children affected by the refugee crisis. This is an opportunity to share our wealth and make a positive impact on the lives of those in need of support and hope.

Every donation, no matter how small, can make a significant difference in the lives of these children, helping to provide safe spaces for recreational and educational activities. We don’t want you to stop taking the kids to summer camps, holidays, restaurants or shopping, but for the price of sun cream and a beach towel, you can give hope. Will you roll up your sleeves with us?

11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves is 11Onze’s service to help people all over the world.

Armed conflicts and natural disasters devastate communities, especially affecting children who have been forcibly displaced and are often victims of human trafficking. As well as a place of learning, shelter schools have become a safe space for vulnerable children.

Just a week ago Europol announced that in a joint global operation with Frontex and Interpol against human trafficking, it had arrested 212 people after identifying 1,426 victims in 44 countries. The coordinated actions of the three international agencies aimed not only to identify but also to protect and refer victims to social services.

The agency warned that children and women are the primary victims of these criminal organisations operating in several countries connected through large networks: “Human traffickers target the most vulnerable groups, including children. Children are trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation”.

This global scourge requires a strong and coordinated response from the international community. Even so, limited access to conflict-affected territories or geopolitical interests means that it is often non-governmental organisations or non-profit humanitarian foundations that are the most proactive in undertaking initiatives to assist those affected.

Human trafficking in north-west Syria

The combination of the protracted humanitarian crisis initially caused by the armed conflict, together with the effects of the pandemic and the recent earthquakes emerge as a set of conditions that have exacerbated the risk of gender-based violence and human trafficking among the Syrian population in the north-west of the country, a territory still controlled by various factions of the Islamic State (ISIS).

The situation is alarming and desperate, especially for children in refugee camps trying to get back to ‘normal’. UNICEF put the number of children displaced by the earthquakes at 850,000, while according to a study by Save the Children, children represent one in five deaths and suicide attempts recorded in refugee camps in northern Syria.

International humanitarian organisations alert that Syrian refugee children are particularly exposed to sex trafficking and forced labour in neighbouring countries. Furthermore, the high number of child marriages of Syrian girls among the population inside Islamist-controlled territories worsens their vulnerability to trafficking.

Shelter schools that empower the community

Access to education plays a critical role in reducing the risk of gender-based violence against children affected by armed conflict and in preventing human trafficking. Shelter schools such as those run by the Better Shelter Foundation, with which 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves has established a partnership, are an essential tool to provide safe spaces where children and women can access quality education, free from prejudice and discrimination.

The complexity and variety of the phenomenon of child trafficking mean that there can be no single formula to solve the problem, but acting directly on the ground by providing the necessary tools and a safe place for children and their families to regain a semblance of the lost normality is a first step that someone had to take.

The ultimate goal of this 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves initiative is to create 50 shelter schools with funding of €100,000, to help 1,750 displaced children. Let’s roll up our sleeves and come together to support this project. Someone has to do it. Will you roll up your sleeves?

11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves is 11Onze’s service to help people all over the world.

The collaboration between the 11Onze community and the Better Shelter Foundation is an example of the power of solidarity and cooperation in the face of emergency situations. The ultimate goal of this 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves initiative is to create 50 shelter schools to accommodate 1,750 children displaced by the Syrian earthquake. But what do these classrooms look like? And how do we build them?

Through this partnership, we aim to create a network of help and support for the affected communities, providing a safe place and the necessary tools so that the children can continue their education and regain normality in their lives. 11Onze is asking its community to roll up its sleeves to help children affected by the earthquake in northern Syria. Can we let these children continue to spend their days on the streets with nothing to do, with all the risks that this entails? We at 11Onze think not, and we hope that the community will get involved.

A lasting solution

The Better Shelter School is an innovative and lasting solution for communities affected by natural disasters or conflicts. This initiative with which 11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves is collaborating is promoted by the Swedish foundation Better Shelter with the aim of building schools in northern Syria after the devastating earthquake that affected the region.

As Jas Texidó, Director of Public and Institutional Relations at 11Onze, explains, “We wanted to do a collaborative action that would have an immediate impact in the affected area.” James Sène, 11Onze’s Chairman, suggested contacting the Ikea Foundation, which was already making shelters for Better Shelter, “so that we could avoid unnecessary intermediaries and this would allow us to directly follow up on the contributions of our community”, states Texidó.

Safe, sturdy and made of quality materials

The shelter schools not only provide a safe space for learning but also serve as a place of emotional stability for the personal development of the affected children. These schools will serve as a bridging tool that will empower them on the path to a more hopeful future.

Better Shelters are much more than just temporary tents. These structures are designed to last over time and provide a safe and dignified place for children and their families in the midst of a crisis. With this goal in mind, the shelters are built with quality materials and are resistant to weather and other environmental factors.

The manufacturing and assembly process of the classrooms is efficient and relatively simple, costing only 2,333 euros and taking only two hours to assemble. Once packed at the IKEA facility, they are shipped to a distribution centre close to the affected area. In the region, Better Shelter partners, including non-governmental organisations and volunteers, are working to set up the shelter schools and furnish them accordingly.

The time required to set up a shelter varies, but usually at least two months from the signing of the contract. This timeframe depends on the operations of the volunteers carrying out the installation. However, in emergency situations, measures are put in place to speed up this process and quickly provide a safe place for children and refugees.

The ultimate goal of this initiative is to create 50 shelter schools, with funding of €100,000, to help 1,750 displaced children. Let’s roll up our sleeves and come together to support this project – someone has to do it!

11Onze Rolls Up its Sleeves is 11Onze’s service to help people all over the world.

Can you imagine a collaborative project based on the notion that if we want a better world, we have to start building it by adding personal commitments? This is how an idea was born that has become a reality. Xavi Vega, the founder of the project, explains it to us in a new People podcast.

Xavi Vega, graphic designer and professor at the Blanquerna Faculty of Communication, wanted to do something to change the world. He was convinced that if we all added small commitments together, we would be contributing to making the world a better place. Everyone has their own personal vision of what an ideal world would be like, but change has to start from the grassroots, from the community.

Based on this concept, Vega has created an altruistic project for people to take part in different commitments in exchange for a T-shirt. “A commitment is created, there is a part that covers the cost of the T-shirt, and another part that is for donations to small organisations that make a better world,” explains Vega.

A world with more solidarity, more freedom and more equality

The constant degradation of social and labour rights, the widespread corruption and the loss of individual freedoms that we have suffered in recent years, show that we still have a long way to go if we want to live in a society designed to promote the welfare of people.

Committing to being part of the change means being proactive with personal actions or supporting projects that work to accelerate this paradigm shift. In this sense, Vega has been surprised to see how many companies have proposed to contribute to the project in a totally altruistic way, “many large companies that I have contacted, and which have a corporate social responsibility, want to make a contribution out of conscience because they like the project, but they don’t even want their brand to be mentioned”.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the super app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!

This year, the International Women’s Day platform is launching a sophisticated campaign concept, if not more sophisticated than other 8M campaigns: #EmbraceEquity.

The new campaign revolves around equity, which differs from the concept of equality. And it is crucial to understand the difference between the two. Because having equal opportunities, per se, does not reduce the gender gap.

Equality means that we treat everyone equally: each person or group of people receives the same resources and opportunities. Let’s give an example: let’s give the same book to a sighted and a blind student. The situation is an equal opportunity, but it is not equal. Equity is about taking into account personal differences and being able to provide the resources to eliminate or minimise disadvantages, and thus to give the same opportunities from a starting point with equal advantages. In our example above, acting equitably would be giving the blind student a Braille book so that he/she has the same opportunities as the sighted student.

Equity means that we provide resources and opportunities tailored to the specific needs or circumstances of that person or group; so that we can achieve an equal outcome. This year’s campaign wants us to learn the concept of equity, and this will enable us to demand a more inclusive society. True inclusion requires equitable actions.

132 years to close the gender gap

Equality is absolutely necessary to establish the first rules of the “game”, although equity is essential to make progress in the gender gap between men and women. It is interesting to review the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for 2022, where this large gap between men and women is observed, a large gap because it is estimated that it could take 132 years to close this gap.

According to the report, and as can be seen in the graph, Spain is in 17th place and Iceland is the country that leads the ranking of countries with the greatest equality and equity between men and women.

100 years of inequality

Ours, this gender inequality, seems to be going on for a long time. So let’s keep on fighting, let’s keep on promoting the IWD campaigns, let’s keep on repeating them, and let’s keep on going viral. Everyone should celebrate it or claim it in their own way so that we don’t get 100 years of inequality.

N.B. “Compañera, dame, dame tira”

Asturias celebrates the IWD with its own theme: “Compañera, dame tira”. A mining expression, the very essence of solidarity and Asturianness. They have composed their own anthem, which they will take to the streets on IWD: “Dende les Cuenques mineres, la capital y occidente, de la costa y del oriente, equí tamos les muyeres”.

The soundtrack of the article

“Embraceable You”. A jazz standard song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was written in 1928 for an unpublished operetta named East Is West. It was published in 1930 and included in that year’s Broadway musical Girl Crazy, performed by Ginger Rogers in a song and dance routine choreographed by Fred Astaire. Billie Holiday‘s 1944 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005.

11Onze is the community fintech of Catalonia. Open an account by downloading the super app El Canut for Android or iOS and join the revolution!