According to the 2016 European Consumer Payment Report by Intrum Justitia, nearly 40% of Hungarians aged 18-34 save with the purpose of buying their own home. This rate is significantly higher than in Western Europe, where only 26% of young people put away money for that purpose.

The reason for the difference might be rooted in the 30% of young Hungarians who reported the experience of having to move back to their parents because of their bad financial situation. In Western Europe, travel is by far the most popular item on the savings list of the same age group (at 44%), followed by the acquisition of consumer goods (29%).

The research shows how savings are handled in different ways depending on geographic location. Whereas Hungarians tend to keep savings mostly in cash or, at best, in savings accounts, their Western peers prefer shares. Just 6% of locals go for stocks if it comes to choosing a savings option. And only about half as many Hungarians have credit cards compared to the West.

Liquidity problems are bridged by loans, mostly from family members (53%) or friends (37%) among members of the younger generations. Furthermore, it seems to be a Hungarian specialty that around four times as many young people will ask their boss or a colleague for a loan compared to Western Europe.

“Based on our research, we can say that young Hungarians are very much conscious about their own finances,” commented Annamária Kiss, director for business development and sales at Intrum Justitia. “Their financial decisions are mostly age-bound, but they have very firm ideas about how they want to spend and save.”

Intrum Justitia has initiated a contest for secondary school students to raise financial awareness called Pocket Money Smart, which was launched in Hungary on October 9.

Source: BBJ

Republished with permission

Photo: Publicity shot for Intrum Justitia’s Pocket Money Smart financial awareness competition.