According to the survey, around 70 per cent of young people aged 16–25 believe they will have a summer job this summer. Of the young people who responded to the survey, 72 per cent plan to put away the majority of summer job earnings in a savings account, just over one in four plan on travelling and slightly fewer than one in four intend to invest their earnings in funds.
The next most popular uses for summer job earnings were major purchases, partying, investing in stocks and spending on hobbies.
"There were interesting differences in the responses by young women and men: Women are more likely than men to use money on travelling, while a larger proportion of men plan on saving their earnings in funds and stocks," says Eevi Määttä, Senior Vice President, Wealth Building at OP Uusimaa.
Young people in Uusimaa more likely to invest in funds and stocks, compared to the rest of Finland
Young people living in the Uusimaa region differ from the rest of the country in how they plan on using summer job earnings, in terms of both travelling and investing in funds and stocks.
As many as 31 per cent of young people and 38 per cent of young women in the Uusimaa region plan to use the majority of their summer job earnings on travel, compared with 26 per cent and 29 per cent nationwide.
25 per cent of young people in Uusimaa say they plan on investing in funds, 18 per cent say stocks. In the nationwide responses, the figures were 23 per cent for mutual funds and 15 per cent for stocks. Investing in mutual funds and stocks was especially popular among young men living in the Uusimaa region, with around 35 per cent saying they plan to invest in funds and 28 per cent in stocks.
"It's great to see young people in Uusimaa interested in saving and investing in such great numbers. This demonstrates an ability and commitment to managing and planning personal finances. The popularity of travel can easily be understood with Uusimaa's ready access to international connections," says Eevi Määttä.
Average holiday budget around 500 euros for young people
The survey also asked young people about their summer holiday budget, covering non-essential purchases and holiday activities such as festivals, events and eating and drinking out. The average summer holiday budget for young people is around 500 euros.
Holiday budgets are larger than the national average in Uusimaa and in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The average budget is 595 euros in Uusimaa and 610 euros in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Helsinki, Vantaa and Espoo). The difference in average summer holiday budgets between men and women was greater in Uusimaa than in the rest of Finland: the average holiday budget in Uusimaa was 502 euros among women and 682 euros among men.
"The larger average summer holiday budget in Uusimaa may be indicative of higher summer job earnings than elsewhere in Finland. Still, it is surprising to see such a large difference in terms of average budget between men and women. I hope that this is not due to differences in pay for summer jobs, rather that it is the result of gender differences in spending habits," says Määttä.
OP Financial Group’s online survey in April 2024 was answered by a total of 3,533 people in Finland over the age of 16, of whom 2,190 live in the Uusimaa region. The results are weighted to be representative of the population in general. The number of respondents varies by question. The survey was conducted for OP Financial Group by Taloustutkimus. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.65 percentage points, for the entire respondent group.