Blog 9 "living on the edge" - British households struggling to cope despite improved economy 4/11/14 1:01 a.m

Summary

There is a huge fear in the eyes of millions of British households that they will lose their jobs while continuing to struggle dealing with monthly bills and the fear of interest rates rising.  A poll was taken that found 15 million people were considered to be “living on the edge” regardless of the fact that the economy was improving.  Several households are lagging on their bill payments or using credit as a “safety net” to resort to for covering income gaps and afford necessary outgoings.  Financial security has become a rising concern among many households as 41 percent say they experience stress from issues with money. Households are concerned that this burden will only get worse as interest rates start to shoot up again over time and that there will be an even faster  increase in the amount of people relying on credit to get by.  Some say that even in the midst of economic growth that the population of consumers is going to most likely face increased cost in goods and services.  Another worry is that nearly 13 million households wouldn’t have the necessary savings if they faced a quarter of a drop in their income. Actions to resolve this has been to call on the government to implement a national debt strategy to help more people feel more financial stable.

Analysis

There seems to be a lack of financial responsibility among millions of households to balance their finances well enough so that they don’t have to fall on credit when they hit rock bottom. Although since this is becoming more of a trend in British households with the fear of losing jobs and increasing interest rates, the credit welfare will eventually become overburdened. Thus leads the nation to the social issue of so many not being financially prepared for the future ahead of them. Families in these households are being directly affected as they are finding it harder and harder to makes ends meet.  If they can’t afford to make their payments on time it puts them at risk of losing their homes and possibly being put out on the streets.  Unless the nation of Britain can develop a way to improve the families financial resilience there only going to see more family households  “pushed over the edge” as an outcome from depending solely on credit as their financial life saver. There is an economic and societal problem with debt here and a new policy needs to be implemented.

Published : April 10th, 2014

site:  http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2601541/Over-15m-British-households-living-edge-despite-improving-economy-says-charity.html