Brain drain Britain

One in five young Britons (20%) are considering quitting the UK to try to escape the current market meltdown threatening an unprecedented “brain drain” – the disappearance of a whole young generation of talent into another country.

With emigration rates already at a post-war high, the findings suggest that the credit crunch might cause Britain’s most valuable assets – it’s youngsters – to flee abroad.

As part of its crunch time campaign, Savebuckets.com asked a GB representative sample of 2,092 people what measures they were resorting to in order to avoid the current downturn.

With almost seven in ten (69%) British adults ready to resort to severe measures to beat the credit crunch, Britons are attempting to outride the current economic storm in every way possible.

Whilst youngsters are most likely to flee the country (20%) one in eight of 55s and older (15%) are also consider escaping abroad to beat the crunch.

More than a third of Britons taking measures (39%) have said they will take up a second job or work longer hours to beat rising living costs.

One in five (20%) Brits would completely give up smoking and drinking altogether to save on their outgoings; something surprisingly opted for by double the amount of younger than older people – 19% of 18 to 24 year olds compared to 8% of over 55’s.

One in ten Brits (9%) would get rid of extra help in the home like cleaners and gardeners in order to save the extra pounds.

Men most active:

Previous research from Savebuckets.com found that 80% of people expect their quality of life to worsen in the months ahead and it seems men are being more drastic in their measures to avoid it happening to them than women.

Over a fifth of UK men (23%) have said one of their ways to avoid the economic downturn is to take part in the great escape and leave the country, compared to almost half as many women (13%).

Men are also most likely to give up smoking and drinking altogether to save money – 24% compared to 17% of women.

At a time of major financial worry for families across the UK, Savebuckets.com is running a campaign, aiming to help people survive the financial crunch. Whilst some living costs continue to go up, there are some enormous savings that can be made on everyday items if people shop around for bargains. In its latest probe on the most common five household items purchased this month online, Savebuckets.com has revealed that families can save over £600 on these popular items with an average percentage saving of 29% off by shopping cleverly and comparing prices.

James Wenger, Marketing Manager at Savebuckets.com commented: “Everyone is worried about rising heating, fuel and food prices but set against this there are huge savings that can be found at a click of a mouse on everyday domestic goods - from fridges to iPods. The current economic environment is actually broadening the price differentials to be found on many items as some shops and retailers slash prices to keep their market share.

“At Savebuckets.com we are encouraging a culture of savvy shopping. We can’t stop gas prices rocketing by 35% but we can help consumers off set this by saving money on other household purchases. We’re adding thousands of new listings everyday to help save consumers a whole load of money this winter.”