Lockdown’s wealth divide: Pandemic savers are ready to spend while others struggle to pay the bills
While many people saved money during the pandemic and are ready to splash the cash, others have been struggling.
Around a third of adults in the UK, or 15.9m people, feel more financially vulnerable post-lockdown, according to research by pensions and investment firm Royal London.
Some 33 per cent attribute this to a reduced income, while 19 per cent had a lack of savings.
Struggling: Around a third of adults in the UK, or 15.9m people, feel more financially vulnerable post-lockdown, according to research by pensions and investment firm Royal London
Another 13 per cent had to take on more debt, and 11 per cent could not afford their living costs.
The statistics indicate how Britain has been divided into a nation of haves and have-nots as people working from home held on to their cash during lockdown while those who lost their jobs or were on furlough struggled to keep up with rent, mortgages and bills.
Furlough ends in September, and economists expect around 1m people on it to find their way back into work.
But unemployment is still at 4.7 per cent. It was 3.9 per cent pre-pandemic.