FCA Research- Understanding the financial lives of UK adults

01/11/2017

FCA have undertaken a large research project

Looking at financial lives of UK adults. Jo Hill FCA Director of MIDA says;

“Some high‑level issues are obvious from the report. For example, 50% of consumers display one or more characteristics that signal their potential vulnerability.

They undertook the study to review their understanding of harm to customers. The terms potentially vulnerable/potential vulnerability, in difficulty, surviving, financially resilient and over‑indebted/over‑indebtedness are used to describe UK adults with characteristics or experiences they told the FCA about.

50% of UK adults (25.6m) displaying vulnerability was based on the research drawn from nearly 13,000 UK consumers aged 18 and over. The research covers six age group segments- from 18 to over 65. However they state that being potential vulnerability does not mean all people with these characteristics will suffer harm.The highest proportion (77%) of those with these characteristics are represented by those without bank accounts and the unemployed. Men displaying vulnerability represented 46% or 11.7 million people, compared to 53% or 13.9 million women.

  • Single parents aged 18-34 are three times as likely to use high-cost credit: 17% compared to the UK average of 6%

  • 13% of 25-34 year olds are in difficulty, because they have missed paying bills or meeting credit commitments

  • Just 35% of those aged 45-54 have given a great deal of thought as to how they will manage in retirement

Andrew Bailey, FCA Chief Executive, said: “The data gathered will be invaluable in helping the FCA prioritise our work. We also hope that the research will provide valuable insight for other organisations focusing on consumers and finance.”