A new poll by Survation found that nearly all British women earning less than the real Living Wage worry about their financial situation, with few expecting their situation to improve in the near future.

Survation polled 1,007 women in the UK who earn less than the Living Wage to see what life is like for women on low pay. Fieldwork was conducted between 28th February – 1st March 2018 on behalf of the Living Wage Foundation and the Fawcett Society.

Few Expect Their Financial Situation to Improve

The poll shows that many women earning less than the real Living Wage, which currently stands at £10.20 an hour in London, and 8.75 in the rest of the UK, struggle to get by with their pay. More than nine in ten (94%) worry about their financial situation, with as many as 33% saying they worry “often”.

When asked if they think their financial situation will be better, worse or roughly the same as currently in a years time, only a third (34%) of people paid below the Living Wage expected their financial situation to get better. While 19% expected their financial situation to get worse, nearly half (47%) did not expect any changes.

Many have Personal Debt, but Few Have Savings

The poll shows that as many as 33% of all women paid below the Living Wage have no savings at all, including pensions. Similarly, a third (33%) say they would not be able to get by with their savings even for a week if they were to lose their job. Less than a third (32%) say they’d be able to get by for over a month.

What is worrying is that despite very few women earning below the Living Wage having savings, as many as two in five (39%) said they have at least £500 of personal debt, with a quarter (25%) spending more than £100 of their monthly income on paying back debts.

When asked if they would cut down on the amount of food they eat if the cost of bills went up, as many as half (49%) of women earning below the Living Wage said they would cut down on the amount of food. Similarly, two in five (41%) women would cut down on heating.

Survation polled 1,007 working women in the UK aged 18+ who get paid below the real Living Wage between 28th February – 1st March 2018. Full tables can be found here.