Government urged to address Gen Y housing concerns
The overwhelming majority of Gen Y Australians worry they’ll never be able to afford their own home.
The overwhelming majority of Gen Y Australians worry they’ll never be able to afford their own home.A survey conducted by a financial advice site has found 64% of Gen Y Australians are concerned they won’t be able to afford a home. The Financial Fitness of Working Australians survey, conducted by Map My Plan, found Gen Y Australians are more concerned than their baby boomer or Get X counterparts about a number of financial matters.
“Gen Y is more worried than other generations about being able to afford childcare or other costs of raising children, about being able to pay bills and weekly expenses, not having emergency savings, losing their job, not meeting healthcare costs, managing credit card debt, affording tertiary education and being able to afford the lifestyle they want,” Map My Plan chair Bernie Ripoll said.
Ripoll, former chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, said Gen Y Aussies expressed concern in spite of being more financially fit than Gen X Australians.
“Generation Y is taking proactive steps towards financial security. At 42%, they’re the generation most likely to be saving more than 10% of their income each month. They are also more likely to have income protection insurance (28%) than other generations,” Ripoll said.
Ripoll urged both federal and state and territory governments to take action on housing affordability, or risk exacerbating the concerns of Gen Y Australians.
“I’m with Economist Saul Eslake on this issue. He said, ‘In order to improve housing affordability, governments plural - that is: federal, state and local - needed together to step back from policies which inflated demand and embrace policies which boost supply’. Any government that’s passing the buck and not proactively addressing the genuine worries around housing affordability is risking a voter backlash, especially from Generation Y,” he said.
Latest home loans headlines
- Waiting for rates to fall? Don’t bank on it, says ANZ CEO
- 12 Days of Holiday Offers: Get as many as 50 free offset accounts with Up
- 12 Days of Holiday Offers: $3,000 cashback when you refinance with IMB
- The 6 home loan tips I give everyone who’s just bought a house
- Melbourne Cup day rate rise sees another blow to homeowners
Image: Shutterstock
