Hardwin Jones, 22 June 2005

The majority of graduates are still financially dependent on their parents even three years after leaving university, a recent survey by the Royal Bank of Scotland has found. Some 58% of 1,200 graduates of 2002 surveyed still look to their families for financial assistance of some kind, and many continue to live at home.

In further findings, 40% of those surveyed do not save regularly; 49% do not have a pension of any kind (whether independently or through their employer); and 39% are unhappy with their level of disposable income. In London only 24% have a mortgage; however in Wrexham (which has the highest proportion of graduate homeowners) the figure is 75%.

Student years are traditionally associated with a slightly grim financial situation - undergone in the hope of a reprieve after graduation, when the hard-won graduate job will be landed, providing a means of repaying debts and earning some disposal income; and perhaps even saving towards a deposit on a property.

The RBS survey shows that this is no longer necessarily the case, for many; that increasing student debts, as well as the rising number of graduates overall, mean that aspirations of wealth, and even self-sufficiency, are having to be deferred, for significant numbers of graduates. It comes in the wake of reports that the graduate ‘earnings premium’ (the average amount earned over the course of a career by graduates over and above non-graduates) has fallen from £400,000 to £150,000; and that only a minority of finalists expect to find graduate-level employment this year.

It was not all grim reading, however. The report also looked at job satisfaction and found that the happiest industry is engineering – 69% of engineers in the sample enjoy their work. Also humming at their desks (metaphorically!) were trainee vets (the second highest at 67%) and a trio of the traditional vocational professions - teachers (57%), social workers (55%) and nurses (54%).

Respondents rated work/life balance the most important determinant of job satisfaction, higher than financial concerns. Next most important were training and scope for promotion.

In terms of UK regions, the survey found an interesting permutation of Oxbridge rivalry, with the two old university towns at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of providing happy environments for graduates to live; one was highest with 70% satisfaction; while the other was lowest with 34%. We’ll leave you to guess which was which!

With average student debts in 2004 at £13,051, 6 out of 10 graduates were still living to some extent on their overdrafts. The debt figure when the survey respondents graduated in 2002 was £10,997, illustrating the way the situation escalates from year to year.

Have your say on this issue. Have you graduated within the last few years, but struggled to escape financial dependency? Or have you succeeded? Share your advice!

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Comments we've had so far:

Unfortunately government policy of increasing the number of university educated 'citizens' has the obvious downside of decreasing the value of the qualifications. Even if you leave aside the need to lower academic standards to make it possible, the increasing number of graduates makes the qualification inherently less valuable. Coupled with the desire to double the level of debt, it is actually surprising that any except the very rich and very poor would even consider a degree now. I returned to studying as a mature student, and have now graduated with a 1st whilst at the same time pushing 40. It is unlikely in the extreme that I will ever see any financial benefit from taking my degree, and fully expect to have to return to my parents for help over the next few years. Anyone considering a degree should only do so for the learning opportunities and for personal satisfaction - basing the decision on monetary gain must surely always lead you to decide to get a job instead.

Even if you are a graduate it's really hard to get a job now as so many people are applying for a limited number of jobs, unless you know someone it's really hard to get anywhere!

I graduated in 2002 with a 1st in Music (probably the Degree at the bottom of the scale in terms of financial gain!), with a £15,000 student loan behind me. I value the qualification and the result I achieved very highly, although most employers don't. Therefore, having started full-time work after graduation, I switched to a part-time local job about 18 months ago (fairly big salary drop), so that I could concentrate on my music and on various business ideas. I still don't earn enough to pay back my student loan, and still survive on my graudate overdraft, as a part-time salary doesn't go very far here in London even though I am now seeing some extra money from odd pieces of work coming in. I'm pretty much self sufficient, but family help out with bigger costs now and then, with some monthly help with bills. I studied without thought of financial gain, as I love my subject, and will continue to pursue my talents hoping that with determination and guile I will someday see financial benefits.

Cambridge was highest. Did you get it right?