Young people twice as concerned about climate change as global recession

Young people are more than twice as concerned about climate change as they are about the impact of a global recession, according to a new report.

Bank of Ireland’s Savings and Investment Index for the second quarter tracks household attitudes towards savings and investment, and monitors their perspectives on the current and future savings and investment environment.

The overall index has dropped from 96 in February to 90 with consumers now citing the war in Ukraine (32 per cent) and inflation (22 per cent) as their biggest worries.

The number of consumers who are saving regularly has dropped from 47 per cent to 40 per cent.

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Covid has dropped rapidly from the list of top concerns, cited by just one in 20 as their biggest concern, below the cost of housing (13 per cent), climate change (11 per cent) and a global recession (11 per cent).

Inflation and the cost of living is the most significant concern among the core working age population (ages 30-59), 27 per cent of whom cite it as their biggest worry. This drops to 21 per cent among 16-29 year olds.

In contrast, among those aged over 60, just 15 per cent cite inflation and the cost of living as their main worry, with 46 per cent seeing the war in Ukraine as their main concern. More than a quarter of under 30s are most worried about the cost of housing and rent.

While 8 per cent of 16-29 year olds are most worried about a global recession, 17 per cent of this cohort cite climate change as their top concern.

Meanwhile, the Retirement Optimism Index dropped for the second quarter in a row, falling to a new low since the survey started. The reading for May fell to an overall score of 106, from the 109 in February and down from the May 2020 peak of 120.

When asked about how comfortable they expect to be in retirement, just under a third of respondents feel that they will find it difficult or very difficult. Unsurprisingly this rises among lower income households (those below €25,000) to 53 per cent.

When asked how financially prepared they are for retirement, this part of the index fell to 102, its lowest reading since the survey started, with 42 per cent of people saying they felt completely/somewhat unprepared.

Again, this was most pronounced among the lowest income group where 62 per cent feel this way. Among those in the core working age bracket (30-59), 55 per cent feel somewhat prepared, while only 8 per cent feel completely financially prepared for retirement.

Kevin Quinn, chief investment strategist at Bank of Ireland, said: “The findings about preparedness for retirement and how comfortable people feel about life in their later years suggest a number of growing concerns.

“I suspect that the wider economic environment and in particular the inflation problem is beginning to trouble a lot of people when it comes to what life will be like in retirement.

“Given we know that huge numbers of people are far less prepared than they think they are, this is going to become more pronounced as inflation may be with us for a considerable time yet.

“Furthermore, after the first period of losses in most pension fund values since the Covid crisis, this has probably also added to the concerns shared by many in our survey.”