Women in Ireland far more focused on health than men in 2020

Money is the biggest source of worry for Irish people for fifth consecutive year
of survey.

What will you focus on this year? That was the question posed by leading protection specialist Royal
London to 1,000 people nationwide, in the latest instalment of its protection survey series.

The research, which was undertaken by iReach, sought to ascertain for the fifth year running, the ‘pulse of
the nation’ when it comes to what is important in the year ahead, and what is causing us to worry.

While physical health tops the poll of what people want to focus on this year, with 31% saying that this
is their planned focus, money is likely to be the primary source of worry. 40% of people agreed this
will be their main concern in 2020. When it comes to overall health, there are substantial differences
between the views of men and women. Almost 5 out of 10 (47%) women say that their biggest focus
will be on either their physical or mental health, whereas only 3 in 10 (32%) men say the same.

Speaking of the findings Joe Charles, Head of Proposition at Royal London, said,
“This is the fifth consecutive year that we have put these questions to the Irish public to gain insight
into people’s motivations and concerns. What’s very interesting is that year-on-year health, career
and travel have come in as people’s top three focuses for the year ahead, and money, health and
family have come in as the top three worries. It just goes to show that as individual as we all are,
we all still have similar life challenges and aspirations.”

Young and Old
The Royal London survey reveals that:
• Those aged above 55 have the least money worries; 29% compared with 49% of those in the
25-34 bracket.
• Work is the greatest cause of worry for 19% of 18–24-year olds, which is above the result of
11% for all adults.
• Understandably, concerns over health grow significantly with age; just 4% of those aged 18-
24 say it’s a big worry, while 38% of those aged 55 and over feel it’s their biggest concern.
• The biggest portion of respondents who said friends and romantic relationships are their
greatest worry were those aged 18–24, with 20% feeling this way, compared to 8% of those
aged 25-34.
Mr. Charles commented,
“It’s good to see that although money is a key concern for people, as we get older, we appear to
become more financially secure, with just 29% of those aged over 55 citing money as their number
one worry, compared to 40% of all adults.
“Work can obviously become a source of worry for people of any age, but it is interesting to see
that 18-24-year old’s were the most concerned age group at 19%. This could possibly indicate that,
understandably, starting out in the labour market can be a daunting process for many.”