Around 12 million adults do not have any savings products, report estimates

Around 12 million adults do not have a savings product to fall back on if times get tough, a report has estimated.

More than a fifth (23%) of adults do not have a savings product such as an Isa or an easy access or fixed-term account, Nationwide Building Society said.

This would equate to around 12.1 million people without a savings cushion if the findings from its research were projected across the UK.

Meanwhile, nearly half (48%) of people with a savings product put £100 or less away in it each month, with a quarter (24%) saving nothing, the Society found.

The findings were made in Nationwide’s inaugural savings index, which was compiled using customer data as well as a survey of more than 10,000 people.

The index will be released every six months as part of the Society’s “payday saveday” campaign which encourages people to put money away in savings on the day they get paid, to build a financial buffer.

Gemma Pauley, head of Nationwide’s payday saveday campaign, described the numbers of people who do not use any savings products as “concerning”.

The Society’s own customer savings data found people who had reached pension age were more than twice as likely to have more than £1,000 in savings than 20 and 30-somethings.

More than two thirds (69%) of 26 to 35-year-olds had less than £1,000 put away, compared with just under a third (32%) of people aged 66-75.

But younger people were more likely to be open about their finances with friends.

More than half (52%) of those aged 18-34 said they talk about their personal challenges of saving money with friends.

This compares with only a fifth (20%) of those aged 55 and above.