According to one report, roughly one in five adults from the Gen Z cohort — those between 18 and 24 years old — have reached full financial independence from family members. Fewer than half of respondents in the 18-to-24 age bracket — 49% — reported being able to cover their basic living costs each month.
Funding for the work came from NatWest Group, while the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol conducted it alongside StepChange Debt Charity as a collaborative partner. Drawing on StepChange client records for 71,000 adults aged 18 to 34 who sought advice in 2025, alongside a YouGov survey of more than 4,200 people across the UK conducted between August and September, the report concluded that housing costs, income insecurity and an early dependence on credit can converge to place considerable obstacles in the way of financial resilience and independence.
Across every age bracket surveyed, the research found that roughly 57 percent — a bare majority — had no reliance on parents or other relatives for their finances. Among adults aged 18 to 24, just over half — 51% — indicated they were unwilling to turn to AI for financial tasks, a share that sat close to the 49% recorded across the country as a whole.
Among StepChange's youngest adult clients — those between 18 and 34 — nearly half, at 44%, had taken on debt to keep up with housing payments. Figures from the survey show that nearly half of clients aged 18 to 34 — 49% — reported incomes that fell short of covering their basic living costs. Among StepChange clients between 18 and 34 years old, the survey found that three in every four — amounting to 75% — had taken out their first credit product before reaching 21.
Vikki Brownridge, chief executive of StepChange Debt Charity, noted that for many young people, adulthood carries with it an expectation of financial independence, steady employment, and the opportunity to establish a stable future. Reaching that goal has become a steeper climb for a growing number of people.
For adults now in their thirties, elevated housing costs are reported to be limiting access to foundational financial milestones, with research pointing to delayed autonomy and reduced capacity to accumulate economic stability over time. Tight labour markets, an early-age dependence on borrowed money, and the persistent overhang of economic uncertainty have together placed younger generations under mounting financial strain.
The data from the research point to these difficulties being felt most intensely among adults in the youngest age bracket. Figures from across the UK show that 34% of adults aged 18 to 34 reported their career progression had been set back by the coronavirus pandemic, a proportion that fell to 23% among those between 35 and 49, and to 16% among those aged 50 to 64, while the findings also point to a broader pattern in which younger adults face particular challenges around financial resilience and access to affordable housing before debt difficulties take hold.
Jamie Evans, a research fellow at the University of Bristol's Personal Finance Research Centre, noted that six years after the pandemic, its effects on young adults' career trajectories, financial circumstances, and overall health and wellbeing were still being felt. Persistently elevated living costs mean many young adults find themselves turning to consumer credit to cover the gap between what they earn and what everyday essentials actually cost them.
Haydn Williams, who leads financial health and support work at NatWest, noted that the research sheds light on the money pressures younger adults face and the circumstances that can influence how their financial lives develop, adding that debts left unaddressed in their early stages tend to grow over time.
A lender poll commissioned by the Bank of England, with findings published in recent days, found that banks and building societies foresee credit card defaults climbing during the three-month window stretching to late November. Data from the Credit Conditions Survey pointed to a rise in credit card defaults over the three-month period running through to the end of August.
Karim Haji, who leads financial services at KPMG across both the UK and global operations, noted that the Bank of England data points to a portion of households drawing on credit while at the same time finding it more difficult to keep up with the debts they already carry.
