Nearly one million do not have any savings

Figures released for the East Midlands

NEARLY one million families in East Midlands don’t have any savings at all.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions have revealed that more than two fifths of all families in our region (42%) don’t have any money put aside.

It means an estimated 999,500 families in East Midlands are ill prepared for things like unexpected bills or redundancy.

Meanwhile, a further 13% of families do have savings, but less than £1,500 - an estimated 314,000. That leaves just 45% of families in East with savings of more than £1,500, although even that amount may not be enough to cover emergencies.

A good rule of thumb is to have three months’ essential outgoings available in an instant access savings account.

So, if you spend £1,000 a month on mortgage or rent, food, heating bills and other things you can’t live without, you should aim for £3,000 in emergency savings.

The figures come from the Family Resources Survey, which was carried between 2014/15 and 2016/17 and refers to the average of the three years.

According to the survey, 43% of UK families don’t have any savings at all - an estimated 14.7 million.

Meanwhile, 12% (about 4.1 million families) have savings under £1,500, while 12% have savings of £3,000 or more, but under £8,000.

Some 17% of families surveyed have savings of £20,000 or more.