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Brits walking "financial tightrope"

Brits are playing a balancing act with their money situation and walking a financial tightrope, according to new research.

New figures from Scottish Widows have shown that around half of the nation requires two salaries to get by financially with the majority of income being spent on essentials.

The study discovered that 44 per cent of households need two salaries to keep up an acceptable standard of living. This situation worsens for married couples and families with two children, where the majority need two incomes to stay afloat financially.

Nick Kirwan, Scottish Widows spokesman, said: "The majority of the population is walking a financial high wire without a safety net. Nobody knows what is around the corner, but we have to accept that all too often illness does strike and accidents do happen.

"If people don't start to take responsibility for their own financial futures then they could be left in a position where they can't even cover the essential expenditure in their lives."

Despite the precarious financial position of many UK families, only one in four people feel they have enough insurance to cover the illness or death of the major breadwinner.

The report also discovered that an average of 57 per cent of take-home pay goes on monthly essentials such as debt and mortgage payments, council tax, utilities and food.

30/10/2006 10:51:45

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