Ten Million Households Feel The Financial Squeeze This Christmas

More than a third of the population (39%) are feeling the financial squeeze this month.

The Squeezometer, a new tracker based on the monthly Which? Consumer Insight poll, shows 10.2 million households are feeling the pinch.

This includes 2.3 million households that have defaulted on a loan, bill or housing payment, and 1.5 million households that have taken out one or more unauthorised overdrafts or payday loans just to make ends meet.

The latest Which? Consumer Insight Tracker has also found:

A third (32%) of people are finding it difficult to cope on their current level of income. Consumers’ top financial worries are the price of fuel (85%), energy (85%) and food (78%). Two thirds of people are worried about interest rates on their savings (68%) and the value of their pensions (68%).

Ahead of the Government’s Autumn statement, Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said:

"With 10 million households feeling the squeeze and consumer confidence remaining low, the Government has a job on its hands to convince people that everything possible is being done to keep unavoidable costs like energy and food bills under control. We’re looking for further progress in reforming the energy market, an end to misleading food price promotions, and more competition in banking to take some of the pressure off hard-pressed consumers."

Almost two thirds (65%) of people said the UK economy is having a negative impact on their personal finances.

(GK)