Young workers fear redundancy due to impact of Covid-19

MORE than a third (35%) of young adults think they will lose their job or see their pay or hours cut due to the economic impact of coronavirus, a survey has found.

Some 17% of 18 to 24 year olds believe they will be made redundant in the coming months.

A further 18% in this age group anticipate that they will have to take a pay cut or reduced hours, according to comparethemarket.com’s latest household financial confidence tracker.

While anxiety around employment and pay appears to be considerably higher among those starting out on the job ladder than other age groups, there is still significant concern among the general population, the research carried out between June 5 and 7 found. More than one in 10 (12%) people expect to be made redundant and 14% believe they will have to take a pay cut or reduced hours.

More than a fifth (21%) of 18 to 24 year olds said they had struggled to pay bills in the previous week, up from 18% the week before, and nearly a quarter (24%) believe they will struggle in the coming weeks, up from a fifth (20%) a week before.

Continuing a trend seen in previous surveys, families with children living at home still tend to show a higher level of financial anxiety.

Nearly a quarter (24%) in this group expect to struggle to meet their financial obligations in the coming weeks.

Anna McEntee, product director at comparethemarket.com, said: “With so many people having to increase borrowing or take payment holidays to meet their household costs, we are potentially heading towards a crunch point where people, particularly younger people who have less by way of savings, are required to pay back money they owe with less income behind them.”