Almost half of UK adults are now living in financial difficulty, research has found, in what has been described as an “increasingly desperate situation facing millions of adults”.
According to a two-year study by non-profit financial inclusion organisation Fair4All Finance, published on Tuesday (16 July), almost three million more people have fallen into financial difficulties in the year since 2022.
It found that almost half (44%) of UK adults are in a “financially vulnerable” place, and since 2022 the number of people now who have slipped into financially vulnerable circumstances has increased by 16% to 20.3 million people.
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Commenting on the study’s results, Fair4All Finance’s deputy CEO Sarah Porretta said the findings “leave no room for doubt that the current financial services system is not working for everyone”.
“Industry and policymakers must unite to address the increasingly desperate situation facing millions of adults in financially vulnerable circumstances,” she added.
The organisation explained that the adults living with financial insecurity came from a variety of backgrounds, from homeowners to young people on zero-hours contracts, claiming Britain’s current money concerns “transcend age, class, occupation and other social boundaries”.