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Almost a fifth of UK adults could survive for a year on savings

The UK has greater confidence in personal financial resilience after lockdown

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Almost a fifth of UK adults could survive for a year on savings. Source: shutterstock.com

According to the latest ‘How Britain Lives’ research from Lloyds Bank, which surveyed over 5,000 UK adults, the number of people who could survive for less than a month has reduced, whilst the numbers of people who could survive for up to, and over, a year have all increased.

In March, prior to national lockdown, 20% of UK adults did not have enough money put aside to cover their outgoings for a full month if they lost their job. This figure has dropped to 15%. A third (33%) could now survive for one to six months (up from 31% in March), 15% could make ends meet for six to 12 months (up from 13%), and almost one in five (19%) could do so for over a year (up from 17%).

We often find that during periods of economic uncertainty, people choose to put more money away or pay down their debts to try and anchor themselves financially, and during lockdown there was a concerted effort to do just this, by those who were able. There is no doubt that empty social calendars and reduced travel costs gave some families an opportunity to save more money each month. However, while lower income households have improved their financial position somewhat, they are still more exposed to the impact of a financial shock
Chris Gowland, Customer Financial Assistance Director, Lloyds Bank

Across all age groups, there are more people who have grown in confidence in their financial position, but 18 to 24-year-olds have shown the greatest positive change, with 15% saying they would now be able to cope for less than a month, compared to almost one in four (24%) back in March.

More people believe they are managing their finances well than before the COVID-19 crisis. (46% vs 40%) and 25% think they have become better at doing so.

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