The press response to this new initiative by McDonald’s has ranged from cool to derisive.  But to directors of our website, it seems like an admirable effort.  One director has taught teenagers in the US foster care program for over ten years.  When these kids go out to look for their first job, McDonald’s is at the top of the list of prospects.  The company offers entry level opportunities to young people who need to learn what a job is: getting to work on time, doing what you are told, treating customers courteously — all the many skills necessary to move up the job ladder.

When kids get that first job, they are thrilled.  The work is hard, but the pay commensurate with abilities at the start.  Starbucks doesn’t pay any better.

Isn’t this just the right time to start discussing how to use your money?  To make young people aware of the their resources and how best to deploy them.  If you do well at McDonald’s, they put you on a management track.  They pay for your education.  This is just what happened to one first jobber who washed and ironed her uniform every day before going to work.  She appreciated McDonald’s.  They reciprocated.

Here is the program they prepared wtih Visa.  We have placed it in our permanent archive of financial literacy reports.  You have to start somewhere.  McDonald’s Financial Literacy for Employees