BY ANGELA COTTERILL, THE HSBC GROUP
Parents’
P
family finances
Expectations For Success
arents increasingly expect a good return on invest-
ment from sending their child to university ac-
cording to a new report from HSBC, The Value of
Education: Springboard for success. The report,
which surveyed over 4,500 parents in 15 countries, found that
parents expect a university education to prepare their child
for a successful career.
Globally, more than two in five parents (43%) say the abil-
ity to compete in the workplace is a key expectation of a good
university education. This is most important to parents in Mex-
ico (57%) and Malaysia (52%), while income-earning potential
tops the list of requirements from parents in India (41%).
More than a third (37%) of parents believe that univer-
sity degrees should contribute to income earning potential
in adult life, and a similar proportion believe that university
should provide vocational or professional training (34%) and
access to opportunities in life (34%). More specifically, parents
in Australia (43%), Turkey (43%) and France (33%) believe
vocational or professional training is the top requirement of a
good university education.
Parents around the world are united in having high aspi-
rations for their children when it comes to education. Nearly
nine in 10 (89%) parents want their children to go to univer-
sity and 62% want their child to go on to study at a postgradu-
ate level - Malaysia (91%), Turkey (86%), Brazil (84%) and
India (83%).
Education is an Investment for the Future
Globally, more than half (58%) of parents believe that paying
for a child’s education is the best investment you can make. This
belief is most strongly held in Brazil (79%) and China (77%).
Education is considered a top priority for parents all
around the world. When deciding how they would allocate
money to support their children financially in life, parents
put education first, ideally setting aside 42% of their funds
for the purpose of their child’s education. Parents in Canada
would allocate the most money towards their child’s educa-
tion (54%), while parents in the UK would allocate the least
(24%).
While parents have high expectations of what educa-
tion should provide, many feel anxious when planning their
child’s education - more than a third (38%) say they find
making decisions about their child’s education daunting and
just over half (51%) wish they had started to plan and save
earlier for their child’s education.
Simon Williams, Group Head of Wealth Management,
HSBC, commented:
“It is clear from the research that parents around
the world still believe that a good education can improve
children’s opportunities and prospects in an increasingly
globalised and competitive world”.
“Yet parents are also aware that all of this can be put at
risk by a failure to prepare adequately. There are choices
to be made and often some financial implications to these
choices. These decisions weigh heavily on parents, and many
regret not starting their planning sooner. It is never too early
to start investing and saving for your child’s education.”
Blake Hellam, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Man-
agement, HSBC Bermuda commented:
“The information provided in this research only further
underlines the importance of starting today, to plan appro-
priately for our childrens’ futures.
43