While we all know the economic situation in the United Kingdom is dire, lots of people have not realised just how bad it is. It turns out that lots of family’s budgets are already pushed almost to the brink.
Some people have said that they could not even find £24 or less each month if their bills went up and let us face it nowadays that is the only direction they seem to go.
Research by Halifax suggests that a fifth of people aged between 40 and 60 are the most seriously worse off and could not even afford an extra £24 or less.
Nearly half of the people that took part in the building society’s research have said that their household finances could collapse if they had to find another £99 each month to cover their outgoings. While that does not sound like a small sum of money £99 does not go far nowadays.
Most families are struggling to make ends meet as the country feels the burden of high inflation along with poor economic growth. Lots of families are feeling the need to borrow money from family members or friends, or even resort to payday loans to get by. Anthony Warrington from Halifax said: ‘There is no quick way to ease the squeeze on households and many are already cutting back where they can. With so many households at full stretch it’s even more important to make strict budgets and keep on top of finances and outgoings.’
People’s outgoings are consistently climbing, especially with bills such as utility bills, fuel costs and even general food costs. If the country has been waiting for good news though, it is not likely to get it. Just today the Bank of England has warned that while the economy is showing a terribly slow but steady sign of improvement inflation is very unlikely to drop. In fact, it is expected to climb and to not fall for during at least the next 2 years.
Sir Mervyn King today said that: ‘We would like inflation to come down much faster. We are certainly not happy with the present situation, but it does not follow from that that the best thing to do is to raise interest rates and push the economy into recession.’