Over 73 per cent of youth in debt, but under control - UCSI study
SINAR DAILY REPORTER31 Jan 2023 02:54pm
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Insufficient finances to cover commitments was found to be the most popular reason for seeking loans, which corresponded to 42 percent of the 1,077 youth surveyed, while 22 percent of them cited inflation as their reason and a surprising 21 per cent responded that they sought loans to fund luxurious lifestyles.
Another nine percent responded that peer pressure caused them to seek loans and only six percent cited social media influence as their reasons.
However, the UCSI reported that despite the worrysome figures, 83 per cent of the youth surveyed were found to be able to finance their debts promptly.
Vehicle loans were the most popular type of loans, with 30 per cent of the respondents being servicing debts in order own a mode of transport, while 28 per cent were servicing educational loans. Only 16 per cent of the youth surveyed had housing loans to service, while 14 per cent sought small business or startup loans and five per cent took loans to cover wedding costs.
The survey also found that 73 per cent of the respondents realised the consequences of failure to settle their loans and thus did not blindly seek loans.
"We can understand through this survey that the youth mostly sought loans due to lack of savings and they did not have the required finances to move to subsequent phases of life, which meant they sought loans to help them out. We can also conclude that many youth had sought loans due to financial strees brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic, while in the current economic climate, inflation was another reason that caused financial stress that led to youth seeking loans," said UCSI Unversity management and business faculty head of research and post-graduate studies Dr Hassanudin Mohd Thas Thaker.
Of the 1,077 respondents aged between 18 and 40-years old, 48 per cent were Chinese, 38 per cent Malay and 14 per cent Indian.
