Research carried out by The Debt Advisory Centre has revealed that more than half of the adults in the UK have experienced having absolutely no money from time to time or regularly.
60 per cent of people in Britain are skint from time to time or regularly – or have been in the past.
When trying to figure out why so many people find themselves without any money at all, there were several main causes that came to light.
Almost a third (31 per cent) of those who‘d found themselves skint say it‘s because their income is only just enough to live on.
Other top reasons were unexpected bills, overspending and – for one in 10 – trying to keep up with debt repayments.
Ian Williams from Debt Advisory Centre said: “It‘s a sad statistic to see that so many of us have experienced being skint to such a level, especially when at times it can be preventable. It‘s not surprising that it causes such panic and upset and it might not seem like it now, but there are often things that can be done.
“For those people who are skint because they‘re struggling to keep up with debt repayments, I‘d recommend getting help.”
The 2,000 respondents were specifically asked whether they‘d had nothing in the bank, little or nothing in their wallet or no access to other money. Not having money has caused more than 80 per cent of people to feel worried, upset, panicky or depressed abut their situation.
Money lender Wonga has now lent £2bn to more than one million UK customers since it started back in 2007 and has encountered regular criticism over its 4,214 per cent annual APR interest rate.
Williams added that many companies do offer debt management solutions and can often give structure to paying debt off and give peace of mind to their customers.
