Dark times ahead for household finances

With 46% expecting their household financial situation to be worse 12 months from now compared to 15% expecting an improved economic situation.

This pessimism is driven largely by household’s cash positions - 28% of UK households report having only £125 or less available in discretionary income after paying utilities, housing and tax last month.

This is up from 21% last year, as more Britons have expenses catching up with their income.

Looking across income categories, the cash crunch is affecting all Britons. Among those households making less than £30,000, 42% have less cash available this month than last month compared to only 7% seeing more cash available. 

Among top earning households with over £50,000 in income, 25% report less cash available compared to only 13% with an increase in cash available. Going forward, all income groups expect this crunch to continue - 44% of households with more than £50,000 in income expect cash available to decline in the coming 12 months. 

Among less well-off households with less than £30k in income, the crunch is even more acute with 49% expecting a decrease.

The cash crunch also appears to be manifesting itself under the Christmas tree with 40% of households planning to decrease their spending on Christmas gifts this season whilst only 7% increasing their spending.

While pessimism continues on the home front, the story in the workplace is improving slightly. Employees are seeing growth in their own companies as 27% expect business activity to improve in the coming 12 months with only 15% expecting business activity in their workplace to decline.

Job security is also creeping up as 20% of employed Britons feel as though their job security has declined over the past month compared to figures as high as 25% earlier this year.

Furthermore, 35% of Britons reported a pay rise in the past 12 months, with a median increase of 10%. Similarly, 32% are expecting to receive a raise, bonus (or both) in the coming year.

There are worries, though, on the broader job market as 30% of employed Britons expect lay-offs at their place of employment in the next year compared to just 23% expecting new hires.

When we discuss the job market as a whole with all Britons (not just those employed), unemployment is expected to increase, with 84% expecting unemployment to increase (and 31% expecting it to increase "a lot").

This broader trend fuels continued worries that any recovery in the UK's economy will be a jobless one; those who have employment may see an improvement in their situation, while those on the margins of employment may continue to see tough times ahead.