Britain has a savings problem. The average household puts aside just 7.7 per cent of disposable income, about half the French rate and a third of Germany’s. With expensive housing, high childcare costs and wages that haven’t kept pace with inflation, many families are living paycheque to paycheque with no surplus to think about starting to save. According to the latest FCA data, one in 10 adults has no cash savings at all, and a further one in five has less than £1,000 to draw on in an emergency.
Behind these numbers are dramatically different stories: people with no buffer at all, those slowly building one, and some who save with near-religious discipline.
Here is what 10 Britons across generations say they really have in savings, and how they got there.
‘It feels strange and embarrassing, earning this much but having nothing put aside’
Anonymous, 50, professional, West London. Earns: £120,000. Savings: none
