Britons unprepared for recession, Fool.co.uk finds

24/10/2008

People remain ill-prepared for the coming recession, Fool.co.uk has suggested.

A poll from the financial website found that 70 per cent of adults have less than 20 per cent of their monthly income left when they pay off all their essential household expenses.

Moreover, around one in seven said that they had no money at all left over at the end of the month.

The Fool.co.uk survey comes as the government releases new figures, showing that the UK economy shrank by 0.5 per cent over the three months to September.

Kevin Still, EuroDebt director, said: "The reality is that dealing with rising expenditure and trying to squirrel away funds in the event of job loss or long-term illness are almost impossible for a significant proportion of the population where their budget is already lean and they are servicing credit repayments or a large mortgage that may have gotten them on the property ladder.

"It is important to have thought about what would happen in the event of one of the breadwinners losing some or all of their income for a protracted period of time. If you feel that there is a likelihood of this happening then take advice early."

David Kuo, head of personal finance at the website, commented: "Ensuring that we can survive on less than four-fifths of our current income is vital. If you lose your present job through redundancy, your next job could pay precisely that - less than four-fifths of what you now earn."

Tags; Current UK Economy, Credit Card Lifestyle, Recent Graduate Debt,

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