East Lothian’s Younger Generation Strapped For Cash

New Report Shows Over 80% Turning to Parents for Support

Fiona O’Donnell Calls for More Support for Local Youngsters

A new report from the Bank of Scotland has confirmed that parents in East Lothian are having to spend more to help their children maintain decent living standards than ever before.

 The Family Savings Report, which was published today revealed that the percentage of young adults relying on hand-outs from their parents has gone up dramatically in the past 20 years with four out of five (84%) turning to their parents for financial support, compared with just 61% of young adults in the 1980s. 

Responding to the report local MP Fiona O’Donnell has called on the Government to do more to support the younger generation saying:

“Parents here in East Lothian want to do everything they can to help their children get ahead and of course that means sometimes providing financial support but this report shows a worrying rise in how dependent young people are on cash from their family.  

“Times are tough and at my local surgeries I often hear how difficult is it for young people to find a job, training or to pay for a college or university course. Earlier this month Labour Statistics showed 235 young people in our area currently struggling to find work but this had been met with complacency from both the Government in Westminster and the Scottish Government in Edinburgh who haven’t done nearly enough to bring jobs and investment to our area.

“Worse still the Scottish Government’s plans on Further Education could see hundreds of courses cut from further education colleges this August. That’s a devastating slash in the number of training opportunities that our local young people desperately need.

“This report today shows that almost half (47%) of young adults receive their parents’ help with even just day-to-day living expenses like rent payments – further evidence that the Governments both in Westminster and Holyrood are not doing enough to provide young people in our area with the support they need and deserve.

“Labour have recommended a jobs guarantee programme which would provide real jobs and decent wages as well as training opportunities for out of work young people. We have also called on a cut to VAT which would make paying the bills easier for people of all ages. The Government needs to re-think its policies which are stifling growth and opportunity and leading our younger generation to become more reliant than they have been on decades on their parents.

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