One in three families with children toil to pay bills in lockdown

One in three families with children living at home would struggle to pay their bills in the event of another full national lockdown where blanket restrictions forced them to stay at home, a survey has found.

Some 33 percent said they would have difficulty being able to afford to look after their families in such a situation, according to comparethemarket.com’s household financial confidence tracker survey carried out earlier this month.

More than a fifth (22 per cent) of families with children at home were expecting to take a pay cut or reduce their hours in the near future, the research found. Over a quarter (27 percent) of people also believed that another full national lockdown would put their job at risk.

Some 23 per cent of families with children at home said that they would have to take on more debt to afford the cost of another lockdown and 25 per cent would have to take out, or extend, a payment holiday.

This compares with 11 per cent and 8 per cent respectively among households without children at home.

Compare the market. com’s survey also found many families with children have been trying to build financial buffers.

Nearly a fifth (19 per cent) were putting more money aside in case something happened to their job. And 60 per cent were trying to save more and spend less.

John Cross ley, head of money at comparethemarket.com, said: “Although the economy has now largely reopened, the prospect of a second wave of infections, and even another national lo ckdown, is clearly causing significant financial anxiety .” More than 2,000 people were surveyed across the UK.