- The average cost of getting married, buying a house and having children in the UK soars to almost £400k, according to financial mutual, OneFamily
- This has increased by £35k in two years, up from £360k in 2022
- Being able to afford all of these life goals is becoming increasingly difficult as costs rise, forcing young adults to make tough choices
- The top three priorities among adults aged 18-40 are living comfortably (54%), travelling (36%) and buying a house (28%)
- Getting married or having a wedding has fallen towards the bottom of the list, with just one in ten (12%) saying this is one of their top three life goals
The average cost of getting married, buying a house and having children in the UK soars to almost £395,000, according to financial mutual, OneFamily. This has increased by £35,000 in just two years, up from £360,000 in 2022[1].
The high cost of key life goals means the traditional path of buying a house, marriage and having kids is difficult to afford, as young adults juggle costs including rent, bills and saving for a deposit.
As part of the research by OneFamily, which surveyed 2,000 UK adults between the ages of 18-40, people were asked about their top three life goals. More than half (54%) say their priority was living comfortably, reflecting that in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, rising energy bills and inflation, many young adults just want to make sure they can make ends meet.
The second highest priority is to go on holiday or travel (36%). Less than a third (28%) prioritise buying a house, with the same proportion hoping to have savings when they retire.
With rising costs forcing people to make tough choices, getting married or having a wedding has fallen towards the bottom of the list, as just one in ten (12%) say this is in their top three goals. However, when asked if they would like to have a wedding, three in four (75%) non-married people say they would. This suggests, while people do still want to get married or have a wedding, it is simply not a top priority when taking other expenses into account.
Of those who are not married, two in five (38%) who would like a wedding are concerned about how they will be able to afford it, as the average adult under 40 expects a wedding to cost around £16,000.
Katie Oliphant, a 26-year-old HR co-ordinator living in Cambridge, is renting with her partner, Cormac. They are each have a lifetime ISA and will use the savings to buy a property together.
The lifetime ISA is a product set up by the UK government to help people buy their first home or save for retirement. The government tops up lifetime ISAs by 25%, so for every £100 saved, an extra £25 will be added on top. The maximum saving limit into a lifetime ISA per year is £4,000, which equates to an annual bonus of up to £1,000.
As well as buying a property, Katie said she would like to get married at some point too, but the high cost of living makes it challenging for young people to do both. Katie said, “In an ideal world we’d get married soon, but wedding costs are absolutely extortionate and because of the cost-of-living crisis, everything has increased. I just don’t know where we’d get the money from for a wedding right now. I think buying a house is more important because, if we were to have children, then at least we have a roof over our heads.
“At first, we wanted to buy when we moved in together, but we then realised how long it takes, especially as at the moment we want to live in the city centre. So, we decided not to rush it. I think lifetime ISAs are brilliant and there’s no better way to save for a house – you are given free money from the government so to me it’s a no brainer.”
Lifetime ISAs can be opened by people aged between 18 and 39 and the free government bonus provides a boost which can help those hoping to get on the property ladder.
Jackie, Customer Operations Director at OneFamily, said, “Given the recent cost-of-living crisis, it’s hardly surprising it’s becoming more difficult for people to afford buying a home as well as their dream wedding. It’s tough for young adults in the UK, as they juggle paying rent, bills and saving for a deposit.
“Social mobility is something we really believe in at OneFamily, as everyone should have access to equal opportunities, regardless of their background. Lifetime ISAs can really help people wanting to save for their first home, as the free bonus can give them that extra boost.”
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Notes to Editors
Unless otherwise stated, the results in 2024 were obtained from two surveys by Opinium on behalf of OneFamily:
1. 2,000 sample of UK adults aged 18-40 from 14th to 19th February
2. 2,000 sample of UK adults from 16th to 20th February.
In the latter survey, respondents under 40 reported that the average total cost of buying their first property, getting married/celebrating their relationship and the cost of childcare came to £395,518.40. This was calculated as follows: property costs (£291,950.20), wedding costs (9,630.30) and costs to provide for their children (a yearly cost of £5,218.80 over 18 years = £93,938.40).
References:
[1] Research from 2022 was conducted between 22nd – 25th February 2022 among a sample of 2,000 UK adults. Respondents under 40 were asked to share the cost of buying their first property, getting married/celebrating their relationship and the cost of childcare. The UK average in 2022 came to a total of £360,543, including property costs (£274,270), wedding costs (£11,213) and costs to provide for their children (a yearly cost of £4,170 over 18 years = £75,060).
What is a lifetime ISA?
Lifetime ISAs are a product set up by the UK government to help people either buy their first home or save for retirement (from the age of 60).
The government tops up lifetime ISAs by 25%, so for every £100 you save, it will give you an extra £25 on top. You can’t save more than £4,000 in your lifetime ISA each tax year so the biggest government bonus you can get is £1,000 a year.
Please note, there is a penalty charge for taking your money out within 12 months or not using it for your first home or for retirement. This is known as the government withdrawal charge.
As with all ISAs, lifetime ISAs are tax-free. This means that no matter how much your investments grow by, you won’t pay any tax on the money you make.
Our Lifetime ISA invests in stocks and shares, therefore it has good potential to grow over the long-term but the value can go down as well as up.
Once opened, you can continue contributing to your lifetime ISA until you are 50.
To be eligible to open a lifetime ISA, you must be:
- A UK resident
- Aged between 18 and 39
For more information about lifetime ISAs and for the OneFamily Lifetime ISA calculator, visit: https://www.onefamily.com/lifetime-isa/
About OneFamily
OneFamily is a member-owned financial services company that offers lifetime ISAs, lifetime mortgages, junior ISAs, child trust funds, bonds, over 50s life cover along with life insurance and critical illness cover under the Beagle Street brand.
We have over 45 years’ experience of being a trusted provider of financial solutions, with nearly 2 million customers and over £5.5 billion in funds under management at the end of 2022.
We are the UK’s biggest child trust fund provider, holding over 25% of the market.
Supporting our members and their communities
At OneFamily, we’re owned by our members for our members – and doing right by them is at the heart of our business.
We don’t have shareholders to pay dividends to, so we reinvest our profits to provide quality products and services for the benefit of our members.
We think that financial products should be accessible to everyone regardless of how much money they have to invest. That’s why our products have low investment levels and minimum contributions, giving more people the opportunity to save regardless of their circumstances.
Inspiring Better Futures
Our Inspiring Better Futures vision underpins our commitment to doing the right thing at every level for our members and customers, colleagues and communities.
The Inspiring Better Futures vision is built on 3 pillars – Members and customers, colleagues and communities.
Our focus is on long-term sustainability, so we can continue to be relevant and impactful to our members and communities.
Access to education and training
The costs of further education and training can be a barrier to many young people and their families. This is why we offer OneFamily customers the opportunity to apply for a Young Person’s Education Grant of up to £250 – for someone aged 15-19 – to help meet these costs, when they would otherwise struggle without financial assistance. The grant can be used towards study materials, specialist uniform, travel costs or a laptop/tablet.
Applications are open throughout the year, and grants are awarded following a random computerised draw.
We awarded over £52K to 210 young people through our Young Person’s Education Grants in 2022, helping them to invest in a better future.
Charity Partnerships
Supporting our communities has been a key focus of ours for many years. We’ve established partnerships with local and national charities that champion access to education and improving life chances for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For more information on how we support our members and communities see:
Education grants
Charity partnerships