Press Releases

19 June 2009

Majority of young bankrupts are now women

• 55% of bankrupts aged under 24 are women up from 48%

Women now make up the majority of young bankrupts, reveals research by Wilkins Kennedy, the Top 25 accountancy firm.

According to Wilkins Kennedy 55% of all under 24 year olds going bankrupt are women compared to just 48.3% five years ago. Last year there were 1,560 women under 24 years old declared bankrupt compared to 1,250 men from the same age group.

Anthony Cork, Director at Wilkins Kennedy, comments: “Five years ago it tended to be young men who got out of their financial depth but now it is far more likely to be young women who spend irresponsibly. That gap between the genders seems to be growing.”

“Over the last decade the pressure on young women to follow the lavish lifestyle of female celebrities has grown immensely. In all seriousness we are told that Paris Hilton and Victoria Beckham are role models to be followed.”

“The growing availability of credit has meant that for those status-conscious, who want to exhibit the trappings of success, designer clothes and jewellery seem misleadingly achievable.”

Wilkins Kennedy explains that the boom years also saw a massive inflation in the cost of what was considered affordably luxury to the point where Selfridges reported that the average cost of the handbags they stock had hit £800.

Anthony Cork also explains that there is now a burden on young women to prove their independence by renting or owning their own flat – a problem that young men seem to suffer less from. According to the Office of National Statistics, 29% of 20 to 34-year-old men now live with their parents compared to just 18% of women of the same age group.

“Too many young, single women have taken out mortgages that eat up far too much of their monthly salaries. This makes them vulnerable to changes in interest rates and makes them far more likely to go bankrupt if they lose their job.”

“Young men don’t seem to feel the social pressure to either spend conspicuously or to set up on their own to the extent that women do. That means that are able to build up a bigger cushion of savings.”

Anthony Cork says that the extra social pressures on women to spend are exacerbated by the low pay they still receive compared to men. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that full-time female employees in the financial services sector are paid 39% less than male employees in that sector.

According to Wilkins Kennedy, last year there were approximately 67,500 personal bankrupts across all age groups in England and Wales.

ENDS

Press enquiries:

Anthony Cork
Director
Wilkins Kennedy
Tel: 020 7403 1877

Keith Stevens
Partner
Wilkins Kennedy
Tel: 01784 435 561
Mobile: 07880 601 961

Fay Israsena or Nick Mattison
Mattison Public Relations
Tel: 020 7645 3636