Under 25s 'stressed about finances'

Thursday, 30 October 2003 12:00 AM

A new study claims that young people are more stressed than ever before, with one in three claiming that managing money is their biggest cause of stress, over and above relationships and jobs.

Research by Nationwide Building Society in the run up to Stress Awareness Day on November 5th found that, despite stressing about money worries, many young people refuse to tackle them and plan for the future.

The survey showed that one in five young people don't move their current or savings account to a better provider, while almost a third of under 25s have not started to plan for their retirement, getting married, having children or even their next holiday.

Being in the red is a prime concern, with over a quarter of people under 25 worried about being overdrawn, while more than 20 per cent are stressed about paying bills.

Young people worry very little about mortgages though, Nationwide claims, with less than one per cent of people aged 16-24 citing it as their main cause of stress.

Stuart Bernau, Nationwide's executive director, believes that a lack of knowledge could prevent young people from sorting out their finances.

"To some people these figures will not be surprising and maybe it is a reflection of the lack of financial education in our schools. But the truth is that not enough young people are confident about managing their finances and this can lead to poor product selection and the failure to plan for the future," he said.

Mr Bernau advised reviewing finances monthly, setting up direct debits for bills, agreeing an overdraft and consolidating debt as ways for young people to better manage their finances.

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