One in six UK workers struggling to pay bills

Times

10-07-2025

One in six UK workers are struggling to pay their bills, helping drive up the number of people with second jobs to the highest on record, according to new data on the cost of living crisis.
A study of 3,800 workers by the Work Foundation think tank found that 17 per cent reported struggling to pay their bills at the end of every month. And 40 per cent said they had little income left over for savings or holidays.
The foundation said that numbers show that despite rising real wage growth this year, the cost of living crisis has not alleviated for many workers this year. Under half of surveyed workers said the pace of their earnings can keep with the cost of living.
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Separate figures from the Office for National Statistics said just over a quarter of adults said they could not afford an 'unexpected but necessary expense of £850', the highest proportion since September 2024.
Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said: 'Raising living standards is not just about figures on a spreadsheet, it's about workers feeling more financially secure. Four years on from the start of the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, our analysis shows workers continue to feel the impact of nearly 20 years of stagnating pay packets.'
The number of workers with second jobs has hit a record of 1.23 million, an increase of 121,000 or 10 per cent on the year. This is the highest proportion of the workforce since equivalent records began in 1992.
'Second jobs are sometimes glamorised as side hustles or optional extras but economic necessity is often a key motivation. Despite a period of sustained pay increases, the growth in second jobs points to continued cost of living pressures that mean some workers are struggling to make enough money in their main roles and are taking on additional jobs to make ends meet,' Harrison said.
Younger workers also suffer from higher job uncertainty, with half of 16-24 year olds fearing they will lose their job in the next 12 months. The UK's overall unemployment rate has risen to 4.6 per cent this year — a four-year high — and vacancies and payroll growth have also slowed under pressure from higher payroll taxes and still high interest rates.
The slowing job market has put pressure on the Bank of England to deliver a faster pace of rate cuts, with traders betting on another quarter of a percentage point cut at the central bank's next meeting in August.
The Bank has said it wants to see more evidence that wage pressures are falling before it delivers bigger interest rate cuts. The Work Foundation's survey said that only a quarter of older workers — aged 55-64 — believed they would get an above-inflation pay rise this year.