STARTING a family is not top of the agenda for young Brits today, according to new research.
Three quarters of 18 to 30-year-olds surveyed made the judgement based on their cashflow situation and as a result, were focusing foremost, on their career.
The poll of 2,000 people showed only a meagre 12% thought they could afford a child in the current climate and those with the cash, said they’d currently rather spend it on a house deposit.
However, the poll by furniture company, distinctivechesterfields.com found that nearly two thirds of respondents (61 per cent) said they would love to have children in the future and that if cash was no problem, they’d have liked to have two by the age of 31.
But one in five surveyed claimed they didn’t want to be parents at all and would rather save their cash for holidays or a new home deposit. The majority of those, said they wouldn’t be prepared to take a career break, given student loans and the time taken to climb their pay scale.
It‘s apparent that women over 40 are now having more kids than those in their twenties, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics.
The report put the figures down to an increased number of women doing university degrees, rising costs of childcare, labour market uncertainty and costs of buying or moving homes.
But it seems that the white wedding is not a dying tradition as 90 per cent of respondents said they would like to get hitched one day.
Social trends expert Tanya Korobka said that Millennials just don’t think about having kids as early as the older generation did.
She put it down to current financial pressures as well as a general shift in values, with a good career coming before children.
“Young people today are delaying major milestones (marriage, kids) and this shift is primarily driven by young women,” she added.
According to the Youth Trend Report 2016, almost two thirds of Millennials (60%) were thinking about having kids in their late 30’s.
More than half of those surveyed are currently saving for their future and the average young Brit has £5,000 saved, while one in five have already managed to save an impressive £10,000.
Young people in East Anglian are the nation’s best savers, while those in the North East have banked the least – saving £5,920 compared to £3,640.
Steve Laidlaw, Managing Director from Distinctivechesterfields.com said: “It’s clear that times are changing from the traditional type of British homes and that our young adults today have different priorities.
“Given the cost of childcare and associated costs of having kids these days, it’s not surprising that young people are putting their careers first and saving their hard-earned cash for things like holidays or their first home.”
Featured Image – Image credit: iStockPhoto.com / Eva-Katalin (via Custard Online Marking Ltd)
Related Posts
