There’s a trend amongst young Canadian adults that’s top of mind this week. It has to do with the setbacks that come with a failure to launch financial goals. That’s the hot topic – and in fact the theme – of Credit Education Week Canada (CEWC), which got off to a rousing start Monday in Toronto, the hub of activities.
Media stars, money experts, and everyday people gathered at the central YMCA to open the annual event devoted to improving financial literacy across Canada. We got started with presentations and lively discussions framed in part by some interesting news highlighting an emotional roller coaster.
Just take a look at the infographic shown here with statistics gleaned from a study specially undertaken for CEWC this year. The stats show that many young Canadians are struggling financially, with feelings running wild in terms of who’s to blame for the trouble.
It interested me to see that 29 per cent of young Canadians have faced setbacks to getting out of debt, 14 per cent have stumbled in buying a house, nine per cent have struggled to buy a car, and eight per cent have struggled in terms of hope for travel.
Then there’s the blame-game associated with the difficulties. Look at the infographic map of Canada showing all the youngsters who fault their parents for a lack of financial support.
Coupled with other infographic stats, we see the emotional roller coaster clipping right along here. Quite the loop de loop really. Despite misgivings involving the parents, three out of four young Canadians also blame themselves for a failure to launch. At the same time, they say they believe they’ll fully recover from their financial setbacks.
Note the numbers pertaining to how those polled expect to bounce back from a failure to launch. And check out the stats for the kinds of tools they say will help them fulfil financial goals. One finding is downright disturbing.
Regarding how young adults expect to bounce back, there’s a statistic that really pops out for me in a big, bad way – the fact that 24 per cent are pinning hopes for future financial success on winning the lottery. Yikes. That’s the really scary part of the roller coaster.
Clearly, we’ve still got a long way to go in Canada to help people overcome the failure to launch. Well, that’s why we launch CEWC every year in November. We do it to help all Canadians improve their money skills, which first and foremost means facing up to financial reality.
I thank CEWC platinum co-sponsor - Capital One Canada - for working with my agency, Credit Canada Debt Solutions, to undertake the CEWC study. It includes many other interesting findings. Click here to learn more.
