Report highlights UK savings gap

Wednesday, November 11th 2009

Almost three in ten parents with young children do not have savings or investments in place for emergencies or for their offspring's future.

This is according to a new report from Abbey Savings, which also shows that a further 20 per cent of parents have a nest egg of less than £1,000 to rely on.

The research additionally indicated that those parents with savings are dipping into them to cover the increasing cost of raising a child, taking out 28 per cent of what they have saved over the course of a year.

Reza Attar-Zadeh of Abbey Savings commented: "It is concerning that many families are saving less, as this could leave them facing financial difficulty in the future."

Meanwhile, Nationwide's latest Savings Index rose by three points between September and October, reaching its highest level since December 2008.

The index tracks consumers' current opinions on the state of their own savings.