Bills

The generation working double: young people most likely to need second jobs due to rising costs of living

  • Over a quarter of 25–34-year-olds (28%) say they’ll need to work two jobs to cover their costs in 2022
  • More than 1 in 5 people aged 18-24 say they need a second job this year
  • 14% of people under 24 say they already have a second job

New research* by GoCompare has revealed that the UK’s young people may be the generation most likely to need to work more and take on additional jobs, in order to cover rising bills and the cost of living.

The survey of 2,149 people in the UK found that more than 1 in 5 people aged 18-24 think they’ll need a second job this year to cover their costs, and over a quarter of those aged 25-34 (28%) say the same. Meanwhile, only 2% of people aged over 65 think they will need to find a second job to make ends meet.

As the ‘side hustle’ generation, nearly a third of 18–24-year-olds (31%) claimed they have a side income that supports their living costs – considerably more than the national average (16%).

Surprisingly, men are more likely to have a side income than women, with nearly 1 in 5 men (19%) having supplementary income but only 14% of women saying the same.

GoCompare’s money expert, Matt Sanders said, “Rising costs are hitting the UK public in a number of ways, and this new research from GoCompare shows the lengths people may need to go to in order to pay the bills.”

“Our research suggests people are often working double – having a ‘side hustle’ and thinking about second jobs – in order to make ends meet, and with 15% of respondents saying they will need a second job this year, it’s not just the younger generations that are feeling the pressure.”

“Money saving is our mission here at GoCompare, and we’re committed to sharing advice and tips to help people squeeze every penny out of their finances, from ways of saving energy to comparing providers and finding the best deal.”

To discover GoCompare’s money saving tips, visit: https://www.gocompare.com/money/

-Ends-

For further information please contact:

Lynsey Walden on lynsey.walden@gocompare.com,  or Kath Chadwick on Kathryn.chadwick@gocompare.com.

Notes to editors

*Data source: On 18th – 21st February 2022, an online survey of 2,149 randomly selected Great British adults was executed by Maru/Blue. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.1%. The results have been weighted by age, gender, region and social grade to match the population, according to Census data. This is to ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

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Notes to editors

About GoCompare

GoCompare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.

It does not charge people to use its services and does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. GoCompare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.

When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. It is this approach to comparing products that secured the company an invitation to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) in 2008, and it is still the only comparison site to be a member of this organisation.

GoCompare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest and works with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.

GoCompare is part of Future Plc and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

More information can be found here www.gocompare.com or here https://www.futureplc.com/brands/.