Out of the frying pan into the fire: Quantitative investigation into how UK working adults manage consumer credit from crisis to crisis (2006 to 2022)

背景资料。这篇博士论文探讨了个人、地理和时间背景如何构成英国国内财务困境的主观和客观生活体验，重点关注18至39岁的成年人。英国的年轻人正在借入更多的信贷，而且比前几代人更年轻。消费信贷是一种相对现代的现象，越来越多的家庭使用消费信贷，2019年家庭总债务占收入的127%。此外，在过去十年中，消费信贷的增长超过了GDP(FCA，2020)。2006年至2018年，这篇博士论文调查了为什么超过十分之一(13.5%)的18至39岁的人报告面临某种形式的财务困境，高于整个成年人口(9.8%)。年轻人的财务状况尤其重要，因为他们正进入成年期，这是人生进程中的一个阶段，定义为应对新的责任，与前几代人的经历相比，这一阶段日益复杂和非线性(Furlong等人，2018年：Arnett，2004年)。借款可能感觉不可避免，因为许多类型的个人借款都与完成教育和住房独立等生活愿望联系在一起(Houle，2014)。当财务义务感觉无法管理时，债务就会出现问题，并可能损害一个人的健康(Sweet，2018)。研究问题、数据和方法。这篇论文提出的问题是，在年轻的时候，携带消费信贷在多大程度上加强和复制了现有的经济不平等？个人背景由个人情况、时间段和居住地类型所定义的个人背景。为了回答这个问题，论文使用了描述统计、回归模型和聚类分析等定量方法，使用了2006年至2018年覆盖英格兰、威尔士和苏格兰的独特的地理编码纵向微观数据-财富和资产调查(n=25万；英国国家统计局，2021年)。调查结果。总体而言，有证据表明，面临管理消费信贷困难的成年人不一定生活在贫困程度最高的地区。相反，越来越多的人发现，他们生活在“中等”类型的社区里，面临着管理消费信贷的挑战。这些结果证明，一个人居住的地方的类型与他们采用个人借款类别的可能性有关；个人借款的某些类别(但不是全部)与年轻人拥有住房的时间有关；以及某些消费信贷消费模式容易出现问题。因此，这篇论文支持了未来的研究，即在评估个人财务状况时考虑个人背景的重要性，特别是对年轻人来说，并强调那些发现管理消费信贷有问题的人可以被忽视，因为他们生活在所谓的“普通”社区。总体而言，这篇博士论文发现，消费信贷仍然是工薪家庭抵御金融衰退的灵丹妙药。下一步。该奖学金计划取得进展，并在顶级期刊上发表关于英国工薪家庭财务状况和现代相对贫困概念的研究；向世界领先的就业研究专家学习；整合和交叉验证一个项目下的两个Secure Access项目；将时间覆盖范围从12年延长到16年，将2020年的“新冠肺炎”危机包括在内；发展网络并向英国国内外的广泛受众传播研究；实践将影响力嵌入研究；培养关键的沟通和协作技能；并建立应用未来巨额资金拨款的信心。这些组成部分和积累的经验为强有力的研究议程和在学术界丰富而充实的职业生涯铺平了道路。

Background. The doctoral thesis explored how individual, geographical and temporal context frames the subjective and objective lived experience of financial distress within the UK, with a focus on 18- to 39-years old adults. Young adults in the UK are borrowing more credit and doing so younger than any previous generation. Consumer credit, a relatively modern phenomenon, is increasingly utilised by households, with overall household debt sitting at 127% of income in 2019. Moreover, the growth of consumer credit has outpaced GDP over the past decade (FCA, 2020). Between 2006 and 2018, the PhD thesis investigated why more than one in ten (13.5%) 18- to 39-year-olds reported facing some form of financial distress, higher than the overall adult population (9.8%). Young adults' finances are especially important as they are entering adulthood, a phase of the life course defined with coping with new responsibility and is increasingly complex and non-linear in comparison with the experiences of previous generations (Furlong et al., 2018: Arnett, 2004). Borrowing can feel inevitable as many types of personal borrowing are tied with life aspirations such as completion of education and housing independence (Houle, 2014). When the financial obligations feel unmanageable, the debt becomes problematic and can damage one's health (Sweet, 2018). Research Question, Data, and Methods. This thesis asked to what extent does carrying consumer credit reinforce and reproduce existing economic inequalities at a young age? Personal context as defined by one's personal circumstances, the time period, and the type of places one lives. To answer this question, the thesis employed quantitative methods including descriptive statistics, regression modelling, and cluster analysis, using unique geocoded longitudinal microdata - the Wealth and Assets Survey (n=250k; ONS, 2021)- covering England, Wales and Scotland from 2006 to 2018. Findings. Overall, there is evidence that adults facing difficulties managing consumer credit are not necessarily living in areas of highest deprivation. Instead, there is a growth of those individuals finding managing consumer credit challenges living in 'middling' type of neighbourhoods. The results provide evidence that the type of places where one lives has an association with their likelihood of taking on categories of personal borrowing; that some categories, but not all, of personal borrowing have an association with the timing of homeownership for young adults; and that certain patterns of consumer credit consumption are prone to be problematic. The thesis therefore supports future research to consider the importance of personal context when evaluating individual's personal finances, especially for young adults, and to stress that those who find managing consumer credit problematic can be overlooked because they live in so-called 'average' neighbourhoods. Overall, this doctoral thesis found consumer credit remains a panacea primarily for working households to weather financial downturns.Next steps. The fellowship plans to progress and to publish research in top journals on the financial realities of working households in the UK and modern conceptualisations of relative poverty; to learn from world-leading employment studies experts; to consolidate and cross-validate two secure access projects under one project; to extend the time coverage from 12 years to 16 years to include the 2020 Covid-19 crisis; to develop networks and disseminate the research to a wide range of audience both within the UK and internationally; to practice embedding impact within research; to develop critical communication and collaboration skills; and to build confidence to apply future large funding grants. These components and gained experience pave the way forward for a robust research agenda and a rich and fulfilling career in academia.