Striking Numbers February 2021

Everyday in the UK

 

Personal Debt in the UK

The population of the UK grew by an estimated 990 people a day between 2018 and 2019.

  • On average, a UK household spends £4.29 a day on water, electricity, and gas.
  • 296 people a day were declared insolvent or bankrupt in England and Wales in November to December 2020. This was equivalent to one person every 4 minutes and 52 seconds.
  • In Northern Ireland in December, there were 3.1 insolvencies per day and in Scotland 18.6 insolvencies per day.
  • Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales dealt with 1,680 debt issues every day in the year to January 2021.
  • 1.5 properties were repossessed every day in October to December 2020 in the UK, or one every 15 hours and 46 minutes.
  • The number of UK mortgages with arrears of over 2.5% of the remaining balance rose by 18 a day in the year to December 2020.
  • The number of people unemployed in the UK grew by 1,315 per day in the three months to December 2020.
  • 3,728 people a day reported they had become redundant in October to December 2020.
  • Net lending to individuals and housing associations in the UK grew by £131 million a day in December 2020.
  • Government debt increased by £745 million a day in the year to January 2021.
  • Borrowers paid £123 million a day in interest in December 2020.
  • It costs an average of £23.25 per day for a couple to raise a child from birth to the age of 18.
  • For a lone parent family, the cost of raising a child comes to £28.22 per day.
  • 2.8 mortgage possession claims and 0.3 mortgage possession orders were made every day in England and Wales in October to December 2020.
  • 91 landlord possession claims and 23.9 landlord possession orders were made every day.

Arising from Coronavirus pandemic

Reports continue to be published showing the impact of Covid-19 on the financial health of UK households. The following are some of the new findings that have been published since our round-up in January’s Money Statistics:

4.5 million Number of workers on furlough in January 2021, up from 4 million in December 2020 (Resolution Foundation).

One-third Proportion of those furloughed (in full or part) who have been furloughed for ten or more months (Resolution Foundation).

11.1% Proportion of people earning up to £10,000 per year who were on furlough in midDecember 2020, compared with 1.8% of those earning £40,000+ (ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey).

55.1% Proportion of people earning £20,000+ per year able to work from home, compared with 19.1% of people earning less than £20,000 per year (ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey).

14% Proportion of the pre-pandemic self-employed who were no longer working in January 2021, up from 9% in May 2020 (Resolution Foundation).

61% Proportion of the self-employed whose overall financial situation has worsened due to the pandemic (FCA Financial Lives Survey).

28% Proportion of those in the lowest 20% of income earners who continued to be paid in full while not able to work due to the pandemic, compared with 52% of those in the top 20% of income earners (ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey).

These numbers show how uneven the impact of Covid-19 has been as well as the importance of the furlough scheme and self-employed support to maintaining incomes and reducing some of the inequality of the pandemic’s impact.

Responding to the impact of Covid-19 on UK households

With the roll-out of the vaccine programme, attention is moving to the economic challenges of recovering from the pandemic. Many charities and economic research groups have called for the phase-down of economic support to be done gradually, giving time for employment and the economy to recover to its pre-pandemic levels.

Statistics Source: http//www.themoneycharity.org.uk

We have assisted many people with personal debt in the UK – view our testimonials here.