Last updated at 14:52, Friday, 27 July 2012

Struggling consumers spend one week a year worrying about finances, as savings plummet and personal debt levels spiral.

A report looking into the effects of the economic downturn on people’s quality of life has found the average person now spends three hours and 15 minutes a week fretting over their money.

It comes as a further squeeze on budgets in the last 12 months means living standards are now at their lowest since the 1920s.

More people are being forced to take on new forms of debt to make ends meet and almost half of young people aged 18 to 29 run out of money every month.

The findings, by Which?, looked at how people in Britain are coping with the financial downturn.

More than 2,000 people were surveyed, with more than half admitting mistrust in the Government and the banking system.

Young people aged 18 to 29 have borne the brunt of the impact on living standards with a fall in purchasing power of twice the national average, according to the report.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “Many consumers are clinging to the edge of a financial cliff with savings at rock bottom and personal debt levels sky high.”

First published at 14:05, Friday, 27 July 2012
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk