Money Problems for Young Brits

UK agency BMRB has been receiving wide coverage for its major survey for the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The study explores the financial standing and know-how of UK adults and highlights new financial challenges for young people.

With 5,000 45-minute in-home CAPI interviews, the survey is said to be the largest of its kind ever undertaken in the world.

The results show young people yet to come to terms with managing their money and making provision for future financial needs. Around one quarter of those aged 20-39 had fallen into financial difficulties in the last five years, compared with only 4% of the 60+ group. Similarly, 24% of those in their 20s were currently overdrawn, compared with less than 3% of people in their 60s and 70s.

Despite the relative good news on the pensions issue published last week / month (DRNO ), the BMRB study shows the scale of the underlying problem. 81% of people under retirement age think that a state pension will not provide them with the standard of living they hoped for in retirement - yet 37% have not as yet made any additional provision.

The FSA stressed the greater financial pressures faced by today's young people, including the easy availability of credit, higher house prices, and individual rather than state responsibility for the costs of higher education and retirement. To help them gain the necessary skill and judgement, the FSA also announced details of a wide-ranging programme of financial education, information and advice, aimed at schools, higher education, workplaces, families and voluntary organisations.

Development work and analysis of the findings were undertaken by the Personal Finance Research Centre at Bristol University. The full report on the survey was published on 28 March on the FSA website (www.fsa.gov.uk). BMRB is online at www.bmrb.co.uk

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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