One in three Britons forced to raid savings last year, taking out average of £3,500
Britons’ wealth falls to 10-year low: one in three was forced to loot savings last year, withdrawing an average of £3,500
- More than half say they now feel worse financially than last year
- Britons think they will be worse off on average £233 a month due to inflation
- One in eight has been forced into more debt, borrowing an average of £579
One in three Britons have been forced to plunder their savings in the past year, drawing into their rainy day fund at an average of £3,506 as they struggle to keep up with the rising cost of living.
According to the LifeSearch Health, Wealth & Happiness 2023 Index, British wealth has fallen to a 10-year low not seen since the height of the pandemic.
This has led to 52 percent of Britons saying they now feel worse off financially than they did last year.
Savings raid: One in three Britons had to take an average of £3,500 from their savings last year to keep up with cost of living
Looking ahead to the months ahead, Britons expected to be £233 a month worse off – or nearly £2,800 a year – by the end of 2023 due to inflation.
This was a slight improvement on last year’s survey, when people expected to be an average of £252 a month worse off.
This year’s figure rose to £546 or more than £6,500 a year among Londoners.
In addition, one in 12 people said they should ask their family for money, with gifts averaging £401 a month.
One in eight people was forced to take on more debt, either short-term or long-term, with the average loan amounting to £579.
The research was conducted by the Center for Economics and Business Research on behalf of LifeSearch.
Save money by turning down the heating, reducing children’s pocket money and switching supermarkets
The study also looked at where people cut back to try to save money.
It showed that 55 percent of people had turned on the heating less, while one in four used household appliances less often.
> Save money on energy: what you need to know and energy saving tips that work
Another one in four have switched supermarkets to try to save money, while one in five (21 percent) have shopped in thrift stores and budget stores.
We expect the pressure to continue in the coming year, especially in the areas of inflation and purchasing power.
Nina Skero, CEO of the Center for Economics and Business Research
About 8 per cent said they had shared passwords for music and TV streaming services, rising to 13 per cent of those under 35. This saved them £58 and £74 per month respectively.
Others were forced to take more drastic measures. According to the LifeSearch study, 17 per cent of people had reduced the number of hot meals they ate or changed the way they cooked, saving around £45 per month, while 3 per cent said they used food banks and saved an average of £98 per month. month of food.
Some people had stopped giving their children pocket money (2 per cent), saving around £73 a month, while 16 per cent had cut back on charitable donations.
| What have you done in the past 12 months to save money? | % of people who did this | Average savings per month |
|---|---|---|
| Turn the heating on less at home | 55 percent | £54 |
| Used appliances such as dishwasher or washing machine less or at other times of the day | 25 percent | £33 |
| Sold items that I no longer need/want | 25 percent | £82 |
| Swap the supermarket where you shop | 24 percent | £62 |
| Shopped at thrift/thrift stores/thrift stores | 21 percent | £57 |
| Fewer hot meals per day / changed way of cooking | 17 percent | £45 |
| Stopped giving to charities / reduced how much I give to charities | 16 percent | £31 |
| Shared passwords for TV/music streaming | 8 percent | £58 |
| Use food banks/charities for help | 3 percent | £98 |
| Stopped / reduced pocket money for children | 2 percent | £73 |
| LifeSearch Health, Wealth and Happiness Index 2023 | ||
Happiness at the bottom
The study found that people’s happiness is at an all-time low not seen in more than a decade.
One in four people reported being less happy today than a year ago, while 32 per cent of Britons said their mental health and well-being had deteriorated.
One in three said money and trying to survive financially are likely to have the biggest negative impact on their mental health in the coming year.
Nina Skero, CEO of the CEBR said: ‘The latest edition of the Health, Wealth and Happiness Index shows that 2022/23 has been a difficult period for households.
“We expect the pressure to continue in the coming year, especially in the areas of inflation and purchasing power.”
Emma Walker, chief growth officer at LifeSearch added: “The cost of living crisis has brought the Index back close to pandemic levels.
It may come as no surprise then that Britons’ wealth has seen its biggest drop over the past year, but our health has also declined, including our mental health, which has deteriorated for one in three of us in the last 12 months. ‘