Couple on the beach
Lastminute.com found that because young people today are finding it increasingly hard to make the deposit to buy a house they are spending their money on holidays to enjoy life for the moment (72%).
Jemma said:
‘Luckily our parents leant us the money to put a deposit on a house, because with all of the other costs involved we would never have been able to afford it. Had we not bought a house we would have probably enjoyed ourselves bit more in the last couple of years by going on holidays.’
60% justify their reason for jet setting is because compared to the cost of a deposit, a holiday is comparatively cheap. The result of the recession if encouraging 18-34 year olds to spend today and not think about tomorrow.
The increasing difficultly to get onto the housing ladder means that 23% of people in the study have enjoyed a summer holiday instead and 49% said that it was a means of forgetting about the pressures of responsibility.
Increased holidays in this age bracket means that their attitudes towards them differ, with 35% who plan their trip and 80% who feel that spontaneity is the key to an enjoyable getaway.
Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Professor of Business Psychology, University College London commented on the study:
“We’ve seen mind-sets in Britain become even more hedonistic, especially among young people. This reflects the extent of pressure many young people now face –both immediate job worries and long-term concerns over owning a home. The motivation to save for a property has also clearly been affected by the level of savings required. Psychologically, it is much easier to make the first step if the task in hand seems manageable.
Holidays are a great antidote to daily stress and routine but budgets should be balanced so long-term goals can be achieved as well as short-term fun. This is less obvious to young people who are more inclined to live in the present, because they feel they’ve got time on their side to worry about the future. However, worries can have a positive function, signalling the things we need to change or improve to help us create a better future and help us to realise the life we’ve envisaged for ourselves.”
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