<\/p>\n
Analysis by the Bank of England[1] has identified 28% of households have seen incomes fall during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, rising to 66% among the self-employed. Spending has fallen further, even for those in work. The Bank estimates that 57% of households cut their spending in the early months of the crisis.<\/p>\n
Underlying unemployment rate<\/strong> Another study reveals that 72% of the UK population have concerns for their wealth and finances in 2021[3]. The Health, Wealth & Happiness Index shows the financial strain the pandemic has wrought on the most vulnerable parts of society.<\/p>\n Potential introduction of new taxes<\/strong> A quarter are fearful of bills rising, while 19% are wary of the potential introduction of new taxes. One in five fear they might lack of savings and 13% feel uncertain about a low interest rate environment.<\/p>\n Re-evaluation of finances since pandemic<\/strong> A quarter of Britons said they have saved money since the outbreak with the pandemic and 12% have changed the way they save.<\/p>\n Life insurance enquiries 250% increase<\/strong> The study also found that enquiries for life insurance saw a 250% increase in the end of March 2020 as the first lockdown was announced.<\/p>\n Roadmap for easing restrictions<\/strong> Given the continuing vaccine rollout and roadmap for easing restrictions, the study anticipates a return to economic growth, with quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expansion 4.2% expected in the third quarter of this year.<\/p>\n Source data:<\/strong> 24% of the UK population feel financially worse off than before the pandemic During he past year and a half we\u2019ve experienced a stock market collapse, soaring unemployment, millions deferring their mortgage payments \u2013 and paradoxically, a booming housing market, plus bulging savings accounts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3480\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleighcourt.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBy mid-November last year, a total of 9.6 million jobs had been furloughed under government support schemes, at a cost of \u00a343 billion, while the underlying unemployment rate had risen to 4.9%[2].<\/p>\n
\nTwenty-four per cent of the UK population feel financially worse off than before the pandemic. The figure rises to 27% for women, 35% for part-time workers and 37% for those on furlough. Just one in three Britons said they felt financially better off now.<\/p>\n
\nMore than the half of the population (56%) said they have re-evaluated their finances, with a 76% peak among those aged between 18 to 34 years old.<\/p>\n
\nHigh earners and people in the 18 to 34 year age bracket are the two groups who have saved the most during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
\nAlso enquiries for protection saw a 400% surge in the same period but only 4% of the respondents said they had taken out life insurance.<\/p>\n
\n[1] https:\/\/www.bankofengland.co.uk\/bank-overground\/2020\/how-has-covid-19-affected-the-finances-of-uk-households
\n[2] https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/hmrc-coronavirus-covid-19-statistics
\n[3] LifeSearch study – index compiled with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). Consumer research was carried out by Opinium Research between 5-12 March 2021 among 3,025 UK adults. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"