Talk Learn Do
Talk Learn Do is an important part of our work to help improve financial literacy among children and young people across the UK. Teaching children about money when they’re young helps them develop the skills they’ll need as adults.
Background
Talk Learn Do (TLD) is a financial capability intervention that was originally piloted across Wales through the Family Links Nurturing Programme and Incredible Years.
The aim is to run sessions that encourage parents to have simple, confident money conversations with their 3-11 year olds, and to create opportunities for their children to experience managing it. We enable organisations supporting families to deliver these sessions.
Interventions following the pilot
Building on the success of the Talk Learn Do pilot in 2015–2018, we commissioned further projects and associated evaluations to enhance our understanding of how we can support parents in different contexts, and to understand the effectiveness of different delivery approaches.
In 2019 we partnered with Campaign for Learning to deliver and embed Talk Learn Do in Wales.
Then in 2020 working with Reed in Partnership (in Northern Ireland) and Campaign for Learning (in Scotland), we tested the feasibility of delivering Talk Learn Do in other parts of the UK. We also partnered with NatWest Group to explore digital delivery of TLD sessions by Community Bankers and other bank staff to parents.
Current interventions
Following successful evaluations of the early phases, a pilot intervention is being delivered in partnership with local authorities and Barnardo’s between December 2025 and October 2027. Southwark, Hackney, Cornwall, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Hull and Sunderland are all taking part in the scheme.
Our delivery partner, the children’s charity Barnardo’s, is running Talk Learn Do training sessions for around 100 local authority practitioners in 2026.
These practitioners are then going on to work with parents in Family Hubs across England between April 2026 and April 2027, helping us embed crucial conversations about money in places where families already go for support.
Talk Learn Do can be used by practitioners who work with families in any capacity, for example in family care, social workers, education or youth work.
What's next?
From April 2027 onwards, the Talk Learn Do intervention will be available to Best Start Family Hubs in England as a ‘go further’ option within their Service Expectations GuidanceOpens in a new window. This is key step towards us achieving sustainable scale at a national level.
Drawing on the findings of the Best Start Family Hubs pilot in England 2026/27 we will look to make the Talk Learn Do intervention available nationally, through Family Hubs and other similar delivery settings.
Evaluations of Talk Learn Do
The final evaluation of the initial pilot, co-funded by Big Lottery Wales, showed that Talk Learn Do was highly successful in achieving its objectives and had a positive impact on a number of measures.
These included:
- parents’ knowledge on how to talk to their children about money
- children’s ability to handle and manage money
- parents’ own over-indebtedness.
The early phase evaluation reports showed an overwhelmingly positive view of the Talk Learn Do programme from practitioners and parents across the UK. They highlighted what more could be done to ensure delivery remains effective, including moving to digital delivery.
See details of the four evaluations.
The evaluation for the current pilot is scheduled for 2027.
Resources for policymakers
If you’re involved in delivering or designing financial education support initiatives for parents and families, the evaluation reports, which build on learnings from the pilots, will help to inform your policy development and practical solutions.
You can also view this early video webinarOpens in a new window for policymakers in Wales from the original pilot of Talk Learn Do in Wales which shares more about the initial intervention and how it could help the families you work with.
Resources for parents – Talk Learn Do Digital
Explore our guides to helping parents talk about money with childrenOpens in a new window of different ages on our consumer website, MoneyHelper.
The content provides parents and carers with the skills and confidence to talk to their children about money. It shows why it’s important to teach good financial habits from an early age.
The resource breaks down important topics into fun activities and bite-sized information on pocket money, saving, shopping trips and more.
Keep up to date with financial education
For further information about our financial education work, including Talk Learn Do, contact our children and young people’s policy team by emailing [email protected].
Keep up to date by signing up for our monthly newsletter and by following the Money and Pensions Service on social media – LinkedInOpens in a new window and YouTubeOpens in a new window.