‘Single life key to men’s happiness’
That’s according to a new survey, which also revealed 65% of 20 to 25-year-olds still live at home.
The Mintel survey of 2,570 men on both sides of the Border revealed that single men and those over 55 without children at home were “unsurprisingly” the happiest of the lot.
Report author Eamonn Finn explained: “They have the highest level of disposable income and the least responsibility.”
The survey, released yesterday, also revealed shifts in men’s attitudes to living with their parents, marriage and women at work.
It identified an emerging trend of “kid-ults” or men well into their 20s who still live with their parents.
From their research pollsters estimated that in the Republic 65% of men aged 20 to 25 years were living at home compared to 60% in the North.
Mr Finn said: “It’s very hard for them to afford property these days... But parents have got more money these days and will keep paying for their children for longer. Family sizes are also smaller so people can stay at home for longer. In my generation when you were 18 you were kicked out the house but that’s no longer the case.”
Men are putting off getting married until they are 34 on average in the Republic and 32 in the North.
Both men and women were delaying their commitment to marriage and mortgages so they could spend more money and time doing what they enjoy, the poll found.
Mr Finn said: “Men over 25 are in favour of marriage and commitment to a single partner - eventually - but believe the pressure comes from women.
“For many men marriage is seen as an extra cost on top of the mortgage and this partly suggests why many delay getting married until they are much older and in a position to afford it.”
Their priorities also shifted as they became family men with friends and work coming second to commitments to children and the wife.
Four-fifths of those polled said they wanted to spend more time with the family and the same proportion wanted to stay at home and bring up their children.
In the workplace men said they did not feel threatened by women in top jobs - and only judged them according to how good they were at their jobs.
Mr Finn said: “In contrast, the results suggest that it is women who are more threatened by the women in the workplace than men.”
The survey, which is used by advertisers and marketing companies, also identified another trend: family men with more money.
Previously family men had to spend their money on commitments at home but with the rise of dual-income households more men had more to spend on what they wanted to.
KEY findings of the Mintel survey were:
* 60% of men were happy with their standard of living.
* Men aged 25 to 34 feel comfortable in their jobs and are spenders rather than savers as a result.
* 65% of men aged 20 to 25 in the Republic live with their parents.
* Men are leaving it later to get wed. The average age of a groom in the Republic is 34 and in the North it is 32 years.
