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Shock findings reveal that one in five people in work don’t believe that they would be able to survive on their savings beyond one month if they lost their job.
The findings come from Sainsbury's Bank, who claims it is the only institution in the UK that enables people to save into a savings account whilst at the supermarket checkout using their debit card. The bank is reminding people that they should try to have at least three months’ salary in readily available savings to help cover the cost of unexpected events.
However, the bank believes that this situation may in fact be even worse. On average, three months’ salary would equate to around £5,562, but research from the bank indicates that the average amount of money people in work actually have in cash savings is only £3,000.
Indeed only 22% admit to having more than the recommended £5,000 in cash savings. Its research also indicates that a staggering 30% of the working population - some 8.48 million people - has only £500 or less and that around 12% have no cash savings at all.
Pauline White, savings business manager, at Sainsbury’s Bank said, “While it’s alarming that 20% of people in work fear that they may not be able to survive on their savings for more than a month, our research indicates that the situation could in fact be far worse with not even half (43%) of the working population holding more than £1,000 worth of available cash savings.”
The bank believes that the biggest challenge in encouraging people to save more is to find new ways in which to make it easier for people to do so. Sainsbury’s Bank SaveBack allows people to save money while they do their shopping and in addition, the bank also offers an in-store deposit facility with secure, quick deposit points in store.
Pauline White said: “We urge people to ensure they have emergency savings not just to protect themselves if they were to lose their job but to cover any unforeseen circumstances such as having to help out friends or family or paying emergency car repair bills.”
“The industry as a whole needs to do more to encourage people to save, and this should include making it easier to do so.”
Length of time people think they could survive financially if they lost their jobs and had to rely on their savings
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Length of time |
Number and percentage of people in work |
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Up to one month |
5.78 million (20%) |
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Between two and three months |
6 million (21%) |
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Between four and five months |
1.43 million (5%) |
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Between six and seven months |
3.68 million (13%) |
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Between eight and 11 months |
303,000 (1%) |
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12 months |
2.94 million (10%) |
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Over 12 months |
5.88 million (21%) |
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Don’t know/no savings |
2.39 million (8%) |
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