Pensions not a priority for Bridget Jones generation, says Clerical Medical

According to pensions provider Clerical Medical the Bridget Jones generation is ignoring its financial future to live it up in the present and failing

15:21 09 November 2004

According to pensions provider Clerical Medical the Bridget Jones generation is ignoring its financial future to live it up in the present and failing to save.

Nearly a third of women surveyed by the financial services firm possess attitudes similar to those of hapless movie character and perennial singleton Bridget Jones.

Of these everyday Bridgets, a fatalistic 83 per cent believe that no matter how much you plan for the future, "what will be will be".

If they found themselves with a few extra pennies, only six per cent would spend it on essentials, 38 per cent would treat themselves to luxuries and over half would be inclined to use it to buy a holiday. Just a 14 per cent would consider using it to pay off debts.

Encouragingly, 90 per cent of these women have a savings account, but just 39 per cent have a personal pension.

When it comes to attitudes to life, 71 per cent of these women said their priority was to enjoy it, with 77 per cent expressing that enjoying life is more important than work and 79 per cent admitting that they often bought things as a way of cheering themselves up.

When asked to name all the things, other than essentials, that they spend their cash on, 58 per cent cited clothes as a top buy as well as holidays (58 per cent).

It also emerged that Britain is a nation of women who enjoy socialising, with eating out getting approval from half of those surveyed.

Commenting on the findings, Sue Tunstall, marketing director, Clerical Medical, said: "The results of the survey give us an interesting insight into the attitudes of today's carefree women."