Credit crunched workers 'focus on wages'

27/07/2009

Almost one in six UK workers have taken up a second job, because they can't meet their living costs with one job alone.

This is the shock finding of a new survey from uSwitch.com, released over the weekend.

The price comparison site also found that nine per cent of consumers - 1.6 million people - are so hard up in the credit crunch that they have now returned to work in order to make ends meet.

Fierce competition in the jobs market is now being seen as unemployment rises in the recession - the jobless total is at a 14-year high of 2.4 million on latest official results.

uSwitch.com also said that 41 per cent of workers are currently on the lookout for a "better paid" job, up from 27 per cent last year.

Louise Bond, personal finance manager at uSwitch.com, said: "With unemployment levels set to rise over the coming months, it's understandable that many workers are forced to put career aspirations on the back burner and focus on keeping the money coming in.

"In fact, those that do keep hold of their jobs are in the tricky situation of being forced to pick up the extra work left behind by those that are made redundant. Coupled with this, salary increases are fast becoming a distant memory so workers have to find other ways to make up for the lost cash."

Kevin Still, EuroDebt director, added: "EuroDebt's own figures confirm that the primary reason for starting a Debt Management Plan in the last nine months has been 'loss of income’, including redundancy. Many households are extremely vulnerable to a change in household income, especially when combined with rising costs and unsecured credit becoming more expensive and less accessible. In our experience, it is not uncommon for people to take a second part-time or evening job to make ends meet. One of the key benefits of a Debt Management Plan is its flexibility and adaptability to changes in circumstances.

"It puts the emphasis on timely and quality communications by the Debt Management Company with both their client and the client’s creditors. This is the key to sustainable plans, where consistent methods are used to assess income and expenditure to establish a budget that the client can reasonably afford and make fair contributions to their creditors. In some instances these may only be token payments, but they are a sign of commitment by the client to taking a responsible attitude to their debts."

Tags; Young Family Finances, Job loss, Recent Graduate Debt,

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