Europe UK (Commonwealth Union) – The recent economic crisis has had many households re-evaluate their spending, where cost cutting has come to a choice between heating and eating for communities struggling the most economically. For individuals living on low income and utilizing the very basics, there is not a lot they can do to cut costs further however struggling families are forced to cut down on the very basics.

This time last year, 5.6m households in the UK revealed to researchers they had an absence in confidence for their financial outlook over the next 3 months. Recent research has found that this number has further gone up to 10m households, which was a 77 percent rise, making up 35 percent of all households.

On top of that roughly 11 million agree to a certain extent that they feel like they have an absence of control over their financial situation. Over 4 million strongly agreed that they have no control.

The Financial Fairness Tracker, ordered by the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust and analyzed by a group at the University of Bristol, were noting the personal finances of households since the pandemic commenced, sampling roughly 6,000 individuals.

An elevation in interest rates has a large proportion of mortgaged households concerned in regards to their financial conditions in the next 12 months, particularly those presently on variable rate or tracker mortgages where 75% are ‘very’ or ‘quite’ concerned, when contrasted with 63 percent of all households and those who have the fixed rate finishing in the next year leaving 78 percent concerned.

 “They can see increasing mortgages, rents and energy bills coming over the hill and this is causing anxiety and stress.  Many were already cutting back on essentials and this has intensified over recent months. Efforts by the government and others to support people through the cost of living crisis are welcome but fall short of the support that is needed, and that was provided during the pandemic,” said Mubin Haq, CEO of abrdn Financial Fairness Trust further stating that it is important that the government gives additional targeted assistance to those with the lowest possibility of weathering the coming storm.