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4 in 10 Brits unable to cover 3 months of living expenses

 

Despite freshly announced growth in the UK's GDP, four in ten Brits say they do not have funds to cover three months of living expenses, new research has found.

Just over a third of Brits (35 percent) have less than £500 in savings, according to research from financial technology company FIS.

Generation X are the least likely generation to have savings, with 27 percent revealing they have none whatsoever.

Some consumers are relying on credit, with 33 percent admitting to over £1,000 of credit card debt, according to the survey of 2,000 consumers across the UK.

Over half (58 percent) consumers are feeling worse off now than they did a year ago and despite a political change on the horizon, 33 percent believe their situation will remain the same over the course of the next 12 months, and 40 percent feel their situation will worsen.

Of those surveyed, 51 percent admitted they are “obsessed” with checking their financial apps, with 63 percent of Generation Z (18-27-year-olds) and 64 percent of Millennials (28-42-year-olds) succumbing to this habit.

Rob Hudson, Head of International Banking and Payments at FIS commented: “The UK’s cost of living crisis, spiking inflation and high interest rates have pushed consumers into survival mode.

"Our research suggests this is manifesting in ‘doomscrolling’ and an obsession with monitoring financial apps, as people ponder how best to put their money to work.”

The survey confirms that many consumers from across the UK have struggled to save money in the past 12 months amid the cost of living crisis.

Four in ten say they do not have funds to cover three months of living expenses and 35 percent have less than £500 in savings. Generation X are the least likely generation to have savings, with 27 percent revealing they have none whatsoever.

Some consumers are relying on credit, with 33 percent admitting to over £1,000 of credit card debt.

The research also suggests that openly discussing one’s financial situation is no longer considered taboo.

The most common financial goal in the last 12 months was “saying no” to unnecessary spending, as 48 percent of consumers embrace ‘loud budgeting’ – a trend in which individuals vocalise what they can and can’t afford, and therefore hold themselves publicly accountable to living within their means.

 


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