2023-11-14 03:34:21
Only 42% of young Spaniards claim to be able to adequately cover their basic expenses, according to a study on youth in Mediterranean countries, which also includes Portugal, by EsadeEcpol and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
The sample, made from 9,633 surveys carried out by YouGov (1,526 for Spain), indicates that young Spaniards tend to affirm that they have a compromised financial situation that limits their leisure opportunities and their ability to save, “very poor”, according to the study.
Only 30% of young Spaniards consider themselves capable of facing economic emergencies, while 40% face difficulties saving in the short term. The situation is even more complicated with regard to long-term savings, given that almost half of young Spaniards acknowledge that they do not have the capacity to save in this dimension, while only 24% do believe they have the capacity to do so.
This situation means that 26.5% of Spaniards between 30 and 34 years old still live with their parents. In fact, the study highlights the late emancipation of the family home in most of the countries analyzed, with 23% of individuals in that age group living with their parents in Portugal), 29.5% in Italy and almost 50% in Tunisia.
In Spain, the majority of young people become independent around the age of 28. At 18 years old, 20% of young Spaniards already live independently. Emancipation is progressive. The percentage of emancipated young people reaches 50% at the age of 25 and only above the age of 27 are there more young people who say they live outside the family than within it.
More worrying is that progress in emancipation is slow for older ages. At age 30, more than 30% have not yet become independent, and at age 35, 20% of young people still live with their parents.
The lack of own income is cited as being of high or very high importance by 66.3% of young Spaniards when leaving the “nest”. The study indicates that in Spain 39% believe that the possibility of becoming independent in the next two years is low or very low, while 31% believe that the probability is high or very high. Within one year, the majority of young people (66.8%) perceive a low or very low probability of becoming emancipated. This figure contrasts notably with the reduced 15.1% who see this possibility as high.
The Spaniards, those who later buy a house
Consequently, in relation to the age at which the home purchase is made (among those who manage to access it), Spain has the highest home purchase age of the countries considered: 25.3 years. Despite this, those who do not give a high or very high probability of acquiring their own home in the coming years are a minority: less than 11% in Spain or Italy.
Looking to the future, pessimism seems to be the trend among young people in Mediterranean countries, with 40% of them evaluating the future of their country in twenty years as one of decline (48% in Portugal, 47% in Italy, 42% in Spain) and only 25.2% of young Spaniards predicting a scenario of progress (21.8% in Portugal and only 20.7% in Italy).
The more studies, the more optimism
However, the picture is different depending on the studies. Of young Spaniards with university studies, only 11.8% believe that their ability to cover essential expenses in five years will be low or very low. This percentage rises to 29.3% among those who have only completed secondary school.
The disparity also manifests itself in the long-term savings capacity. Among young people with greater educational training, 57.4% trust that they will have a good savings capacity in five years and only 15.2% believe the opposite.
16% of young Spaniards want “a strong leader”
33% of young Italians, 39.3% of Spaniards and 43.6% of Portuguese blame the ruling elites for the country’s main problems.
The study asks whether these “anti-establishment” attitudes can delegitimize democracy and favor authoritarian visions. “These risks appear relatively controlled in Spain and Portugal, but not in Italy. In Portugal, 15% of young people and in Spain 16.3% have positions that favor having a strong leader who can make quick decisions without worrying about the agreements,” reveals the study. For its part, in Italy this percentage reaches 25.7%.
#young #Spaniards #unable #cover #basic #expenses