Why Manchester’s Young Population will set the City up for Years to Come
Manchester is a city with a very young population. Larger cities are always the places that attract young professionals and graduates, thanks to relatively large numbers of job opportunities and the presence of major companies. Even by these standards Manchester is a city that seems to hold great appeal for young people. Around 22% of the city’s population was born between 1980 and 2000, and this is ahead of the national average more than four times over.
The youthful population of Manchester is by no means an insignificant factor for those investing in the city’s thriving property market. It affects the kinds of properties that perform well, the future outlook for these kinds of property, and the nature of Manchester’s property investment market as on the whole. As such, it can be very useful to understand the reasons behind Manchester’s large number of young people, and the factors that bring this section of society to the city in such large numbers.
For most cities, jobs are one of the key things attracting young people. While this may not be the only factor at play in Manchester, it is certainly still one of the major things bringing younger people into the city. It was once London where the streets were proverbially paved with gold for young people seeking work, but now a larger and larger proportion of the jobs that attract them are moving out of the capital and into the regions. As one of the UK’s most prominent non-London cities, Manchester has been at the forefront of this growth in regional employment opportunities, and its professional and financial sectors are especially strong. In these two industries alone, Manchester is expected to see around 70,000 new jobs appear over the next ten years, leading even more young people to look for a place to live within the city.
The appeal of Manchester as an employment destination – and indeed as a city to call home in general – is rather magnified by its impressively low cost of living. This is appealing to a broad spectrum of demographics, but most especially to young people in the early stages of their career. Most essentials and amenities cost significantly less in Manchester than in London. Housing costs 47% less, transport costs are 44% lower, food prices are 14% cheaper, and clothes carry price tags 12% smaller than those in the capital.
One of the key things bringing young people into Manchester, however, is the presence of major universities. At any given time, Manchester’s population has a significant student strand, and the number of new students coming to study is increasing every year. It is not just young people in current study who live there as a result of the university either. Many people who come to Manchester to study choose to stay there when they graduate and move into the life of young professionals, thanks to the appeal of job opportunities and low living costs in combination with the fact it is a city that many grow to know and love over the course of their studies.
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