Young people employed in medium to large companies and belonging to a retirement fund were harder hit financially by the pandemic than their middle-aged colleagues, with higher retrenchment rates and higher levels of financial stress, as measured by their credit scores and their default rates on debt.

This is one of the findings of the annual Alexander Forbes Member Insights report, released this week, which surveyed almost a million members across the hundreds of retirement funds Alexander Forbes administers. While its main aim is to monitor how diligently retirement fund members are saving for their retirement, the report revealed numerous other trends among employees, including trends on gender parity in the workplace and on overall financial health.

The survey, which covered the 2020 calendar year, categorised people by age as follows:

Early Millennials: age 18 – 35
Late Millennials: age 36 – 45
Generation Xs: age 46 – 55
Baby Boomers: age 56 and above.
The average age of members was 40 years and the average personal income was R19 327. The gender split was roughly equal: 49% female members and 51% male members.

Retrenchments during 2020 showed a startling increase as the “annus horribilis” progressed: from 3 128 in the first quarter to 12 173 in the fourth quarter.

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