American Prepaid Legal Service Institute

Americas Legal Concerns and Experiences Bridge the Generations

A national study entitled Legal Needs of Todays Multi-Generational Workforce reported that the vast majority of Americans are concerned about legal related-matters and that most had experienced personal legal needs in the past year.

The Generations Study, conducted by Russell Research, one of the pioneer firms in the market research industry, and commissioned by ARAG®, a global leader of legal insurance, reported: Seven out of 10 people experienced family, financial, home, automobile or other legal-related needs. Nine out of 10 people are concerned about one or more personal matters from a legal standpoint. While most viewed legal services as beneficial, only one out of four people had a plan to pay for legal expenses.

Americans in all stages of life experience legal needs, said ARAGs President and Chief Executive Officer Cameron Sutton. So, its important to remember that timely, convenient access to legal resources can help people prevent or resolve legal-related matters that could affect them. The Generations Study also indicated: Many legal concerns differed by generation  reflecting individual life stage or lifestyle  while other concerns, such as identify or credit card theft, spanned the generations.

The legal matters that most concern Americans arent necessarily the things they most often experienced. For example, people said they were most concerned about estate planning, the death of an immediate family member and disputes over property and vehicle repair, but what they most often experience are vehicle purchase/lease, apartment rental, traffic tickets and credit problems.

Overall, eight out of 10 people are concerned about financial-related matters, including the creation of a will/living will/power of attorney/estate plan/trust, but they most often experienced credit trouble/debt collection.

Home-related matters differ by life stage, with Generation Y focused on apartment rental/landlord disputes, Generation X on purchasing/refinancing a home, and the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers on repairing/selling a primary residence.

In automobile-related matters, however, the generations are in synch  all were concerned about and experienced vehicle repair/purchase/lease/sale and traffic tickets.

Sutton said the Generations Study offers valuable information about legal matters that can affect personal and professional relationships, job performance and productivity in the workplace. He noted that an earlier ARAG-commissioned study (Measuring the Effects of Employee Financial and Legal Woes) showed that people spent, on average, 57 hours while on the job addressing personal legal matters and that one out of three people take time off work  an average of 13 days  to deal with legal matters.