25% of Britons have less than £100 in savings...

revisesociology in #hive-167922 • 2 years ago

A recent survey of 3000 respondents by the Money Advice Service found that 25% of Britons have less than £100 in savings, equivalent to 16 million people.

There is a lot of regional variation which tells the same old story about wealth distribution in the U.K...

Screenshot 20221107 at 17.47.16.png

The home counties and South East is where the wealth is, so no surprise that there's the lowest percentage of people with low savings, with higher percentages in the North and Midlands.

What makes this research extremely depressing IMO is thinking about this £100 figure from two different perspectives...

From my perspective of relative affluence I want to say 'if you've only got £100 you may as well have nothing' - because to my mind £100 is nowhere near enough for you to survive a significant shock like a job loss and living without a month's or even a week's salary while you (hopefully) find another job.

However I guess if you are used to living in such relative poverty that you struggle to build up any savings, then £100 is a lot - as in you could survive for a couple of weeks on basic food here in the U.K.

Or £100 is enough for a sudden unexpected bill - it would pay for a tooth extraction for example.

But I guess the most common target for those with low savings is Christmas... so I imagine if you did this survey again in January the figure with no savings could well be higher!

Another reason why I just can't look at £100 as being significant is that in the context of rapidly rising inflation this amount could just easily get sucked up in a couple of months on increasing energy, food and fuel bills.

In short, if you're poor this kind of money is just going to get sucked up in next to no time.

A precarious failure of neoliberalism...

I get the neoliberal argument that it's desirable to have a minimal state and people taking charge of their own welfare, but honestly look at these stats...

25% of the population of a wealthy country have no significant cushion, they are basically one week of no pay packet away from destitution and debt and and debt is going to be the only way they can fund a lay-off or a shock, and then repayments on top.

And that's 25% of the population who can't contribute to kick starting the economy because they've just got no money to spend on treats, just on the grind.

In short and to stop ranting, it's just a bit depressing!

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#money #economics #cent #proofofbrain #leofinance

2 years ago in #hive-167922 by revisesociology

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steevc 2 years ago

It can cost about £100 to fill up some cars these days. The wealth distribution in this country is very skewed. In a first world country everyone ought to have enough to eat and a safe, warm home. As it is we have lots sleeping rough and even some with a job worry about getting through winter. They can't even think about building savings and I'm sure they are not all buying expensive phones and big TVs. More billionaires will not help matters.

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revisesociology 2 years ago

It's a grim situation for sure - there is enough it's distribution that's the problem!

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cryptoandcoffee 2 years ago

This is actually rather shocking as there is no buffer when the sh1t hits the fan. This is not a way to live and as you say very depressing.

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preparedwombat 2 years ago

It’s much the same in the USA. I’ve seen various statistics, but something like half the country has less than a $500 cushion with the lowest decile having essentially no savings, strictly hand to mouth. And “welfare” was all but ended in the 1980’s. Limited food assistance is available but cash payments are pretty much gone.

I’m reading a depressing book right now, $2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, which chronicles the lives of the poorest of the poor in this country.

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revisesociology 2 years ago

America.worries me - it always reminds me that we've got a long way to regress yet!

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acesontop 2 years ago

The middle class is being destroyed as we speak(type) and no one complains... I guess we're too busy wasting time on the internet and watching Netflix to do so.

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revisesociology 2 years ago

Mass destraction is part of the equasion for sure!

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slhp 2 years ago

Does the stats include crypto? Just saying 😉

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giorgakis 2 years ago

You want to hear something worse, in the next few months about 150,000 people will lose their house in an auction in Greece! In no mood for melodramatic references, it seems to me that all societies are rapidly moving in Klaus Swabb's wet dream! Nice post in any case ! Happy i found you!

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revisesociology 2 years ago

That's sad to hear I am aware that Greece has been fucked by Capitalism over the last several years.

Very sad!

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mypathtofire 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing the rant! I know many who even take out loans around now to pay for christmas, so they could have even negative net-worth!

One thing that could help increase wealth would be to start scrapping these myriad of taxes that they have in the UK that entrap the working poor.. you know like council tax, water charges etc. It was such a shock to visit countries that work perfectly fine without them!

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revisesociology 2 years ago

Council tax for sure needs looking at especially!

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slothbuzz 2 years ago

The whole system needs to be looked at, from the top to the bottom, too much money is wasted in general. MPs make £100K a year whilst most struggle to make 30K a year. A massive gap in wealth in the UK.

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galenkp 2 years ago

I believe credit spending has a lot to do with the issues, at least here in Australia. Not just credit cards but the cycle of debt created by pay-later schemes like afterpay. People don't seem to be able to go without things these days and so keep spending beyond their means. I don't mean required things here, I mean more shoes and clothing, the latest iphone, vehicle, make up, speedboat or whatever. People have forgotten to say no to themselves.

Sure, the cost of living is increasing, and wages don't keep up, but many people haven't made any adjustments and that's fraught with danger.

I speak for Australia here, not the UK as I have no clue what's going on there.

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edicted 2 years ago

Very important to note here that many of them simply won't pay back the credit cards because they can't. So many debt defaults incoming.

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galenkp 2 years ago

I agree, and those defaults are going to come with implications for those that default, the creditor and society as a whole. It's not a good situation.

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revisesociology 2 years ago

You defo have a point - so many people are used to spending over their limit - I read one article where a couple's strategy to cut down spending was to use the tumble dryer less - LESS!

Crazy! X

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galenkp 2 years ago

People are bonkers as fuck Karl, seriously.

I don't know what the solution is; I'm not sure there is a solution that's viable and achievable in this society of more more more. I was only talking about the cost of living here in Australia a few days ago; it's skyrocketing, and it's the smart people who are making changes. Those who do not will find out the hard way what apathy, greed and hubris earns them.

Watch the crime rate rise too. Just saying. The world is bonkers mate.

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revisesociology 2 years ago

I notdice the low impact DIYers are getting smugger too, fair play I guess!

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ablaze 2 years ago

Wow, that's a depressing soundbite. I really feel for that 25%, but I wonder even if you gave some of that cohort £10,000 tomorrow, how much would they save? I suspect some would get a bigger telly, go on a lavish holiday etc and still not save anything.

I'm not trying to generalise, but some people are good at saving and some not so much. If you're good at saving when you're 7 that continues through life in my opinion and the opposite is also true.

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