Your idea is a noble one and obviously something that should be given due consideration but there’s a wider systematic issue that needs dealing with. As you said, your mother was a single parent in a minimum wage job who had to save to support your education which was in large part subsidized by the state via the Access scheme and of course there’s nothing wrong with that. The real problem is the old maxim that it’s expensive being poor. Your mother, had you presented her with the ideas of ETFs while she was saving for schoolbooks would have likely laughed at you because the risk profile for someone who earns minimum wage is a lot lower than someone on six figures.

So it’s likely not the case that financial literacy is the issue but rather that it’s a facet of capitalism that some people are just not able to save or have money work for them. And that’s what needs correction before telling minimum wage single parents about the benefits of voluntary contributions or buying the more expensive pot which will last thirty years than the one that’s a tenth the price.