1 Jun 2021

Young people worrying about money post-Covid-19

4:40 pm on 1 June 2021

More than three quarters of younger New Zealanders worry about money at least monthly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey has found.

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Many young people are worrying daily, weekly and even monthly about money. Photo: Pixabay

The Financial Services Council's April financial resilience survey found 77 percent of under 37-year-olds worry about money daily, weekly or monthly.

Chief executive Richard Klipin said: "They're at the front end of their careers and their lives buying houses, having families and so on, and a lot of those issues seem out of reach when the whole world is falling down amongst you, that was some of the insights of the front end of the survey.

"We're sitting in a bull market in property as the prices on stock markets have never been higher.

"And so those concerns from younger New Zealanders about 'will I ever get on the property ladder' are coming through loud and clear."

The council began surveying New Zealanders' financial wellbeing as the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year and this was the fourth of those polls.

It found millenials were more worried than older New Zealanders, although Generation X and Baby Boomers' concerns about money escalated in the past year.

"Over 55 percent of New Zealanders are feeling adverse around their overall financial wellbeing and it's becoming quite clear that there's a very strong link between money and money worries and overall wellbeing and happiness," Klipin said.

credit card swipe through terminal, spending, consumer confidence, retail, hospitality

Photo: 123rf

The level of job security was one silver lining in the survey, coming in higher than last year.

Klipin said the survey highlighted the impacts the pandemic was still having on New Zealanders' wellbeing despite indicators pointing to a resilient economy.

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