Back to basics

In our survey on how young people cope with making a living, we started out analysing how important young people value  particular principles from finding a place they can call their own to giving a helping hand. But what about their basic living situation?

The majority of people who participated in the survey have a Masters. How does this compare with the the European average? Over seven in ten of our respondents had achieved a university qualification whereas half that number have achieved this across Europe.

The clear majority live with other people, whether that’s with their friends, partners or parents/relatives. In many cases, they depend on others for a place to stay because they can’t afford to pay the rent – such as sofasurfing at their friends or staying in the room they grow up in with their parents. This compares withfour in ten young people across Europe who felt that their peers couldn’t afford to leave their family home.

Almost half of respondents are in full time work – which is an encouraging sign – although close to two thirds of those are in precarious work – either temporary work or in two or more jobs. How does this compare with Eurostat?

Close to a third started work over five years ago which can be explained both by the relatively old average of the respondents and the fact that many will have started work in their teens.

This disproves the myth that young people are inexperienced or perhaps it’s that their experience in the type jobs they do have in their teens are not sufficiently valued or profiled by recruiters or even jobseekers.

If you want to find out what a basic standard of living is in terms of income, try out this calculator by @jrf_uk.