Skandia’s study about the roads to wealth for Britain’s youth highlights the financial challenges many young adults experience as they move away from home to establish themselves as independent individuals.
One of the key findings the report has shown is that 4.1 million people in the UK aged between 18 and 30 are undergoing a ‘Quarter Life Crisis’, where they struggle to feel satisfied with the path their life is taking financially, professionally and emotionally.
The ‘Quarter Life Crisis’ state is linked with the transition into adulthood; a period of change and life-defining decisions that puts pressure on individuals to fulfil the high expectations created during their formative years.
Quarter Life Crisis
4.1million young adults (aged 18-30) are experiencing some form of quarter life crisis, and around 1.7million of them could be described as being in severe crisis.
Women are more likely to suffer a quarter life crisis than men, with 40 per cent of women showing symptoms compared to 28 per cent of men.
Three ‘types’ of individuals affected by the quarter life crisis emerged from the research findings:
Impatient Achievers (13.4 per cent): Highly skilled and ambitious, they have great expectations and are under immense pressure to succeed.
Low-ambition Spenders (34.4 per cent): Less skilled and ambitious, they are struggling to make ends meet and feel lost in an increasingly competitive labour market.
Natural-born Worriers (52.5 per cent): Somewhat skilled and mildly ambitious, their situation is not particularly bleak. They are generally young with the capacity to save but are still negative about the state of affairs.
General findings
The bank of Mum and Dad is the number one choice for providing 18-30-year-olds with financial help, with mums (30 per cent) more likely to be asked for cash than dads (28 per cent).
The stereotype of daughters finding dads a softer touch than mums is a myth: over a third (34 per cent) of daughters would approach their mum first, with just over a quarter (26 per cent) approaching their dad.
Almost one in seven (15 per cent) 18-30-year-olds are currently out of work (excludes students).
Six in ten with a university degree found work within six months of leaving university.
A third (32 per cent) found a job immediately but one in ten (10 per cent) took over a year to gain employment. Two thirds (65 per cent) have debts of less than £5,000.
In terms of life goals to achieve before age 31, owning a property is top of the wish list (56 per cent) for this group, with getting married a priority for half of them (51 per cent).
Just under half (45 per cent) would like to have paid off all debts by age 31 and almost the same number (44 per cent) would like to have started a family.
Only one in thirteen have a personal pension, while one in seven are saving for retirement through a company scheme.
Skandia commissioned CoreData Research UK to produce the report, which studies the main financial issues that concern young people in the UK. The sample included 1,076 UK-based 18-30-year-olds and was carried out between April and May 2013.
