Latest Debt News
Middle generation caught in financial trap
22/11/2005 16:47:00
The financial difficulties faced by younger and older generations are causing the middle generation to fork out, a new study has found.
Research carried out by YouGov for the Portman building society reveals that one in five unretired parents aged between 45 and 60 do not think their parents have enough money to survive on, the Herald reports.
Of these, two-thirds plan to provide financial help to guide their parents through retirement, to cover for a shortage in pension money and to counter rising council tax and mortgage repayments.
At the other end of the generation ladder, youngsters are less financially dependent than their parents were.
Research from insurer More Than shows that less than two-thirds of youngsters will pay for their own first car, as opposed to nine out of ten of their parents' generation.
Portman's Helen Shaw said: "The financial pressures of modern life are creating a potential double whammy for the middle generation, who are increasingly required to come to the rescue of both parents and children.
"With concern over high house prices, personal debt, inadequate pensions and spiralling council taxes and education costs it would appear that these worries are unlikely to be resolved in the short term.
"We recommend Britons begin to save as soon as possible. If we can encourage savings across the generations, we can begin to ease people's worries and financial concerns."
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