According to a recent John Hancock survey, millennials are feeling the strain of rising costs and an uncertain economy, so much so that it’s causing their mental health to deteriorate. About half of those surveyed said they’ve dealt with bouts of depression.
The firm’s annual survey of 3,825 workers, all of them participants in John Hancock Retirement, found that millennials were generally more stressed by economic conditions than baby boomers, and also that 70% of all workers say they’re “worried a great deal about the economy.” The survey was conducted in November and December.
Forty-two percent of workers described their personal finances as being in a fair or poor state, while 20% said their personal finances were in good or excellent shape.
When it came to the problems they were facing, the respondents most frequently cited issues with rising costs for everyday items and services, general economic conditions and rising interest rates, John Hancock said.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we were hopeful to see continued improvements in financial well-being, but our results showed how quickly an uncertain economy can take those gains away,” Aimee DeCamillo, head of global retirement at Manulife Investment Management, the parent company of John Hancock Retirement, said in a prepared statement. “We did see some resilience, however—despite their financial strain, more than 70% of respondents said they’ll be focused on growing, maintaining or investing their savings in the coming months, with almost half citing paying off debt and planning for retirement as short-term goals.”
Overall, respondents overall expressed better mental health than they did in last year’s survey, with 65% describing it as good, while only 53% did a year earlier.
But 70% said the uncertain economy has had some impact on their mental health, and 16% said it has had a major impact.
Age played a role in how much the economy was affecting the respondents’ mental well-being, John Hancock said.
Millennials appeared to be the most affected, with 89% saying they have experienced stress due to the economy, 50% saying they have experienced depression and 49% saying they have battled loneliness. Just 46% said they would describe their mental health as good or very good.
Baby boomers, by comparison, expressed less mental stress. Seventy-six percent of boomers said their mental health was good or very good, 67% said they’ve experienced stress, 28% said they’ve experienced depression and 25% said they have felt lonely.
Forty-three percent of all workers, and 72% of millennials, said their mental health has interfered with their ability to work in the past year, John Hancock said. Also, 44% of millennials said they worry about their personal finances often while at work.
“The levels of stress and worry in the report are troubling, particularly among millennials, especially given the uncertain economic times we are experiencing,” Wayne Park, CEO of John Hancock Retirement, said in a prepared statement. “The good news is that it is clear that supporting employees through financial wellness programs and working to get them engaged in their personal finance benefits is likely to help boost overall employee satisfaction, retention and productivity.”
Among the survey’s findings:
• Respondents asked about their concerns most frequently cited the impact of inflation on the cost of living (58%), economic conditions in general (47%) and rising interest rates (38%).
• Nearly all respondents have taken note of rising costs in the past six months, with the vast majority reporting increased spending on groceries (95%), household basics (91%), gas (90%), and monthly bill payments (88%).
• The majority of the respondents (71%) say they’ll be focused on growing, maintaining or investing their savings in the coming months. As for their short-term goals, they most frequently listed their desire to pay off their debt (cited by 44% of the respondents) and to plan for retirement (cited by 45%).
• Four in five employees (80%) say they’re unlikely to work for a company that doesn’t offer a retirement plan.
• Fewer than one in three respondents (31%) have a formal retirement plan, and only 33% have met with a financial advisor in the past year.
• While roughly half of the respondents (53%) feel their current level of debt is problematic, it appears manageable for now, as only 14% consider it a major problem and 61% say they’ve been able to make their payments without difficulties.
• Nine in 10 employees report that learning about sources of retirement income, projections of income, and connecting with an advisor would encourage them to do more to prepare for retirement.