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)

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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.