A new survey from Royal London has found that 46% of Irish people still regard money as their biggest source of worry – a 9% increase on the same survey findings last year.
The protection specialist commissioned a survey of 1,000 people throughout the country, which was conducted on its behalf by market research company iReach. This is the 3rd survey in as many years where Royal London has asked the same questions to gain insight into what is high on people’s personal agendas, and how these trends are changing year on year.
Money is the greatest worry for those in the 18 – 34 year age bracket (51%), which lends weight to the idea that rent and property issues could well be contributing factors to people’s increasing money concerns, as this is the cohort of people likely to be most impacted by such matters.
Money was less of a concern for those aged 55 and above (29%) which hopefully points to that age group having the appropriate financial plans in place as they get closer to retirement. More women (50%) than men (42%) are concerned about money in 2018.
Fifteen percent of respondents’ biggest worry this year is family related compared to 22% in 2017 and people are less likely to worry about health and family in 2018 compared to 2017. Work is rising on the public agenda in terms of worry.
Irish people’s focus on their career is down to 23% compared to 26% in 2017, while work itself has become more of a worry. There’s increased focus on starting/growing a family, up from 10% in 2017 to 13% in 2018. Indeed, this aligns with recent CSO figures which indicate the number of families in Ireland has increased by 3.3% from 2011-2016.
Other findings from the Royal London reveal that males are more focused on family than their female counterparts, and that people in Dublin put a greater focus on property than the rest of the country.
Speaking of the findings, Royal London Head of Proposition, Joe Charles said, "The reason marked difference between 2016 and 2017 could have been due the to public being buoyed last year by the reports of the continuing growth of the economy, and as a result being more optimistic in terms of their levels of disposable income. However, since then factors such as the rise in the price of housing, Brexit and geopolitical uncertainty may have influenced people’s sense of financial security and well-being."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
