Young people 'more anxious than ever' due to Brexit and rising debt

A third of young people feel more anxious now than this time last year, according to a study that found the prospect of Britain leaving the European Union, money worries and the cost of housing have magnified doubts about future prospects.

The rise in anxiety sits alongside figures showing that around half of young people are struggling to make ends meet, including 10% of young people who are facing dire financial problems as stagnating wages and rising inflation hit their incomes.

Coming only a week after senior MPs called for an independent review of the UK’s rising debt levels, the Young Women’s Trust said many of the 4,000 young people aged 16 to 30 it surveyed for its annual report, Worrying Times, battled to make it to the end of the month without borrowing money from friends, family or commercial lenders.

The report found that 41% of young women and 28% of young men said it was “a real struggle to make their cash last until the end of the month”, compared with 39% and 27% respectively in 2016.

The report’s authors said: “Our findings show young women are consistently more likely than young men to encounter money problems, workplace discrimination, health problems, worries about the future and low confidence.

“And women from the lowest socio-economic groups are faring worse still, with their situation also deteriorating in the last 12 months.”

The Young Women’s Trust said some measures of financial anxiety and wellbeing among the under-30s had recovered slightly since last year, when the poll registered a severe slump in financial confidence.

But in July, when the poll was carried out, almost half of young people (47%) still said they were worried for the future.

When asked what, if anything, made them feel anxious, the most commonly cited reasons chosen from a range of options were the UK leaving the European Union (42%), the ability to afford a home in the future (41%), their current financial position (37%), not earning enough to live on (35%) and finding a job (34%).

The Princes Trust youth charity said the survey showed practical and financial pressures were piling up on young people.

“This is clearly taking a significant toll on their hopes and aspirations for the future, particularly among young women,” it said.

Last week the chair of the business select committee, Rachel Reeves, and Frank Field, the chair of the work and pensions committee, urged the government to set up an independent public inquiry into the £200bn of debt amassed by households.

The prominent Labour MPs said they were shocked at rising levels of debt, especially among the young, while the Conservative chair of the treasury select committee, Nicky Morgan, said she wanted her colleagues to examine “what it is about our households that accumulate debt”.

Concerns about rising debts levels were underscored by reports from the debt charities Citizens Advice and StepChange, which recorded a jump in the number of young people seeking help with bad debts.

Citizens Advice said the failure to cope with payday loans and other forms of high-cost credit was one of the main reasons for the influx of distressed young people seeking advice.

StepChange reported that in the first six months of 2017 almost two-thirds (64%) of all clients who sought advice were under 40. In 2013 only 53% were aged between 18 and 40.

The chief executive of the Young Women’s Trust, Carole Easton, said: “The traditional stereotype of youthful swagger and optimism seems to have been replaced by worry and anxiety. Perhaps this is not surprising given that young people are facing serious financial troubles and uncertainty about their future.”

Lindsay Owen, the director of policy and evaluation at The Prince’s Trust, said: “It is vital that these young people are empowered to develop the confidence and coping skills they need to thrive, and one way we can do this is by supporting them into jobs, education or training.”