Foreign holidays even for those in financial hardship

Five years on from the financial crisis and foreign holidays are once again a staple of most Irish households, even those in financial hardship.

According to a family finance survey by insurer Aviva, nearly two-thirds of families who classified themselves as “struggling to make ends meet” took at least one holiday abroad in the last 12 months.

Overall, the survey found that more than three out of four adults across all financial categories have taken at least one foreign holiday in the past year.

Over-55s in the financially comfortable category emerged as the most travelled on an annual basis with nine out of 10 enjoying at least one holiday, while 42 per cent said they enjoyed between three and five in the last 12 months.

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Perhaps a holiday abroad is no longer classified as a luxury by the majority of the population, the survey noted, while Ann O’Keeffe, head of pensions and investments at Aviva, said: “In our strongly recovering economy, a holiday abroad is now a feature of most household budgets irrespective of financial pressures”.

Despite a noticeable pick-up in the economy, the survey of 1,300 adults carried out by Red C for Aviva detected an increase in the number of adults describing themselves as financially struggling, which rose 2 per cent to 29 per cent.

Pinch point

It noted that the middle-aged categories – those aged 35-54 – had the highest number of those classifying themselves as struggling and remained the “pinch point” particularly for those with children.

The rising cost of rental accommodation was linked to the increase in the number 25-34-year-olds who say they are struggling, which rose four points to 31 per cent.

The number of people describing themselves as comfortable changed only marginally from the previous survey, rising 1 per cent to 27 per cent.

The significant change in this area has been in the regional distribution with an increase of seven points to 34 per cent in Munster and a drop of 5 per cent to 19 per cent in Leinster, excluding Dublin.

The survey also found that just over half of all homeowners plan to undertake some improvements to their homes over the next five years, with the bulk of them planning work in the next 12 months. But most of them will be relying on savings they have already built up rather than taking out loans.

“Home improvements are a good barometer of financial wellbeing in the average household and our findings in this area reflects the gradual uplift in confidence that emerges from our household research over the last 12 months,” Ms O’Keeffe said.

Most indicators in the Aviva survey were improved compared with last year’s study. More than half of respondents now think the recovery in the Irish economy is under way, seven percentage points more than at this time last year.

And even though a far more cautious 23 per cent say they have benefited to date from that recovery, that figure too is up on last year, by four points.