Summary

• The proportion of households having to make adjustments to cover essential spending increased to 50%. 
• Working age parents saw large increases in their financial adjustment rate, experiencing a 12 percentage point increase to 66%. 
• The missed payment rate is at 7.2%, having seen little change compared to last month. 
• Consumers’ confidence across all three metrics we measure also remained consistent to last month. This implies that the large increases in confidence in the future UK economy and future household finances seen last month have been sustained.  

You can view more data and articles from our monthly tracker survey on our dedicated Consumer Insight Tracker page.

The financial adjustment rate has increased, especially for working age parents

The proportion of households making at least one adjustment to cover essential spending has increased by three percentage points from 47% to half (50%). Adjustments include cutting back on essentials, dipping into savings, selling possessions or borrowing. 

Some of the largest increases in the financial adjustment rate were seen by working age parents. The proportion of working age parents who made at least one adjustment to cover essential spending increased by 12 percentage points to 66%. 

In comparison, pensioners’ financial adjustment rate saw only a slight increase by three percentage points to 35%, whilst working age non-parents experienced a decrease in their financial adjustment rate by two percentage points to 49%. 

Two thirds (66%) of working age parents made at least one adjustment to cover essential spending

The missed payment rate remained at similar levels to last month

The proportion of households missing at least one payment has remained relatively consistent with last month, increasing by only 0.5 percentage points to 7.2%.

7.2% households missed at least one payment in the month to June 13th

Consumer confidence remains consistent to last month

Consumer confidence in all three metrics that we measure has seen little change to May. 

This month, consumer confidence in the future UK economy increased by two points to a score of -39, whilst consumer confidence in their future household finances has decreased by one point to -8. This consistency in consumer confidence indicates that the large increases in confidence in both these metrics observed in May have been sustained.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence in current household finances has seen a slight decrease by four points to +23. 

 Consumer confidence across all three metrics has seen little change this month.

Methodology

The fieldwork was conducted by Yonder on behalf of Which between the 13th and 15th of June. A sample of 2,120 UK adults were surveyed online and weighted to be nationally representative.