According to new ING research, 40% of millennials are prioritising getting more financially secure over finding love this year.
We can’t say we’re totally surprised. Last year was a year of uncertainty, a year of loss, a year that scared us all into getting our “shit together”, somewhat. Going through – or watching those around us go through redundancy as a result of a complete shutdown of their industry, was enough for many of us to reevaluate our careers, our futures and our priorities.
In the lifetime of a western millennial, there hasn’t been a huge social, medical or financial crises, until COVID-19. Many of us had never seen the consequences for not having savings or a steady job. When the pandemic came in full-force and shut down many casual workplaces, such as hospitality, millennials were faced with complete uncertainty of when they’d work again.
While those more or less unaffected complained about working from home, getting sick of their dogs, the children or their husbands, a huge cohort of young people were stressing about paying rent and buying groceries. For the first time in their lives, many thought about getting a salary job.
The research from the bank shows that millennials are the most willing generation (76%) to talk about personal debt – as we are about many social, politic and generally debatable topics. It felt necessary as a way to cope with the COVID-19 shock, to talk about it out loud with our friends and families.
“Because the pandemic affected us all, it’s made the subject of finances and debt an everyday topic. We all know someone who has been directly or indirectly financially affected by the pandemic through no fault of their own,” says ING’s Head of Consumer Lending Fiona Prater.
“If debt problems are shared, we can share solutions. The fact that so many Aussies are prepared to talk about debt is a really good thing. It means the stigma around debt is disappearing.”
What didn’t feel as necessary to many young people during COVID, was dating. Since the birth of dating apps, the urgency to date has decreased. The apps will always be there, the hot people will always be there and there are so many to choose from!
Sure, everyone felt hornier both for sex and for actual social interaction, but finding your true love just didn’t feel like a priority during COVID. Being in lockdown with a lover sounded nice, but only if they were your bae to stay y’know?
Being in lockdown with savings on the other hand… much more useful.
According to the ING research, money habits for millennials are changing over the next 12 months, from saving more money each month (50%), cutting down on personal spending (50%) to earning more money through a side hustle (33%). The ING survey has revealed that 76% of millennials are planning to save over $5,000 this year.
You know what that means. No more impulse ASOS buys, no more “I’ll write my resume properly next week” and no more buying negronis for no particular reason on a Monday.
Go millennial babies, we say! Your grandparents would be proud.
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