A new study conducted by The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) found that about one third of the population say they are “just getting by” financially.
The report measured the financial profiles of 1,500 individuals to examine topics such as financial security, budgeting and planning, savings habits, financial literacy, and financial knowledge.
Financial Security
12% of the 1,500 individuals who featured in the study said that an “income shock” such as a sudden loss of income or a sudden large expense would see them only able to support themselves financially for about a month.
52% said they could survive for about 6 months if they lost their main source of income with 70% of older people saying they believe they could support themselves ‘for 6 months or more’, 20% said they believed they could get by for 3 to 6 months.
80% of respondents said they could handle a sudden, large expense without borrowing money or asking for help.
58% said they were satisfied with their financial situation however one in seven reported being in too much debt.
26% of respondents who had “no formal education beyond primary level” and younger people aged 19-29 (36%) either disagreed or completely disagreed with the statement that they were ‘satisfied with their current financial situation’.
33% answered that they were ‘just getting by’ – a figure which rose to over 50% where individuals had only primary or less education.
8% of respondents endorsed the statement, “Because of my money situation, I feel like I will never have the things I want in life”,
The statement “I am just getting by financially” was endorsed by 32% of those with only primary education as describing them ‘completely’ while 17% of the total number of respondents endorsed this statement.
Single parents and those who are living in shared accommodation are the least likely to have savings to buffer them, the study found.
42% of couples with no children said they had money left over at the end of the month while 36% of couples with children of any age said they had money left over.
This dropped to 22% for lone parents who do not live with relatives.
Savings and Retirement
The report found that the percentage of households who save was high at 86% but it says there are differences in the types of saving used.
Although the more passive forms of saving, such as savings or deposit accounts, are the most common form, there are a range of savings vehicles that households use with men being “more likely to engage in higher-risk saving such as the purchase of stocks and shares or investing in crypto-assets,”
The study says that the portion of households who save falls with age. “Young people record high rates of saving (91%), but older respondents recording lower levels of saving (82%), as shown in Figure 7.5. These differences are also statistically significant,”
A significant portion of both men and women “plan to rely on children or other family members in retirement”, with roughly 20% of women planning to “rely on a spouse or a partner to support them as at least one part of their retirement strategy” with more men than women believing they will continue to work when reaching retirement age.
Those in the 30-59 age category are “more likely to have other assets to draw on in retirement than many of those who are already retired” which suggests a “generation-on-generation improvement in the level of provision”.
The report says that it is “worth noting that these figures only report whether people have financial assets (such as an occupational pension scheme, or ownership of stocks and shares), not the value of these or their ability to support living costs in retirement,”