10% of UK permanently overdrawn

Around 10% of people in the UK are permanently overdrawn and not getting back into the black when they receive their salary each month, a poll has shown...

Five million Brits - around 10% of the country - are permanently overdrawn according to a new report.

The research highlights the financial misery of hard-working families whose salaries are too low to keep up with the crippling cost of living.

The ‘Britain in the Red' survey from product comparison website moneysupermarket.com also showed that a further 12% used their overdraft at least five times a year. However, the figures are an improvement on last year's results, when 17% of people said they were permanently overdrawn.

Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com, said: ‘Whilst it is encouraging to see less and less people reliant on their overdrafts, we should be concerned that there are still such a large number of people permanently overdrawn.

‘With rising inflation, it is going to be difficult for many to break the habit of living in the red, and it may be that more people will fall back into this position as living costs increase.'

Two-thirds of workers in the private sector were hit by a pay freeze last year, with many braced for a second one this year.

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