One in five struggle to keep heads above water

Almost one in five people (18 per cent) are finding it increasingly hard to afford essentials such as food and energy bills, according to new polling data from the Resolution Foundation think tank. The number of those expecting their financial situation to get worse in the next year has risen to more than one in four.

The poll is the latest quarterly tracker of household finances, carried out by Ipsos MORI. The poll found that:

  • People are becoming more pessimistic about their financial situation. The proportion of adults expecting things to get worse has risen to 27 per cent – up from 23 per cent in January 2012, and 15 per cent in October 2011.
  • Nearly one-third (32 per cent) of adults in the very poorest households are struggling to afford essentials, compared with 18 per cent of those on low-to-middle incomes, and just 6 per cent of higher-income households.
  • Around one-third of those on below-average incomes expect their financial situation to worsen, compared with 16 per cent of people living in high-income households.

You can read a summary of the poll results in the Resolution Foundation press release.

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