I'm not quite sure why so many people are never taught this.  I see parents continuing this unfortunate cycle.  Many parents don't share finances with their children.  Then they go onto be adults and are not aware of how the world works.  Honestly, I was one of them.  Guess who was given multiple credit cards at such a young age.  Taught the wrong thing.  As a young adult I was never shown how to properly manage my money, let alone how debt and interest really worked.  It was instant gratification and unfortunately many millennials have this exact same issue.  The world is so full of entitled individuals living WAY above their means and can I blame them.  Welcome to the world!  The cost of living is so extremely high.  We are raised in a society that feels happiness based on material items.  I unfortunately had to learn this the hard way but I can honestly say now that I can appreciate the things we do have and we don't purchase things today just because we "want" them.  While we homeschool our children we are also taking time to include them in family finances not hiding things from them.  Now before you think I'm teaching our 7 year old things that these little beings shouldn't be worried about as children, we are not.  We are going with the flow and explaining to them how credit cards, car payments, and bills work.  Many young children just think purchasing things on "cards" just allows us to buy stuff.  I don't want my children to ever fall into this bad habit.  Also kids expect things so teaching them how to manage their own money as well as what it takes to run a family is so very important.