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    Die Mehrheit der alleinstehenden Erwachsenen „konnte mit einer unerwarteten 850-Pfund-Rechnung nicht umgehen“

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    36 Kommentare

    1. Desperate-Letter2395 on

      Of course not, I earn an average wage. Housing costs are extravagant, living costs arent cheap and i have a young child to provide for as well.

      Lucky if I have a few hundred quid leftover.

    3. parkchanwookiee on

      It’s a weird claim/headline because it presumes that we would need the £850 in leftover cash from our paycheque, but I find it hard to believe the majority don’t have access to a credit card? It might be a pain in the arse to pay it off with interest but surely £850 is doable. It’s not £10,000 or something that exceed the credit limit extended to most people

      Anyway I agree life is unaffordable but this just seems contrived

    5. bulldog_blues on

      It’s very difficult to manage on a single income these days unless said income is well above the median, and it’s probably still a struggle even then if you’re a single parent.

    6. lordnacho666 on

      There’s a huge number of people who are hand to mouth. Even relatively well off people can be saving zero, eg when your kids are small.

    7. RedLion_40k on

      I mean, no one wants a £850 unexpected bill but this article doesn’t quantify what “could not cope” means. I imagine it’s just that most would have to cut back on something or dip into overdraft or credit card to pay but it’s not like it’s going to cause the majority to suffer financial ruin.

      People are routinely hit with larger vet bills, boiler breakdowns and other fees that can dwarf this so I’m not sure what this article is trying to say

    8. ValenciaHadley on

      I’m on disabilty benefits and there is almost zero way to afford big unexpected bills. I got a large dentist bill back in February and luckily my dentist lets me pay off a bit every month but that bit every month is mostly from my grocery budget.

    9. callsignhotdog on

      >Researchers blamed the high cost on rising rent prices and costly subscription services. When rent or mortgage payments were added, monthly spending for single adults rose to an average of around £1,100 per person.

      >Extra costs like broadband, mobile phone bills, insurance and subscriptions, brought this up to £1,200 a month on average, without spending on socialising, holidays or hobbies.

      £1100 rent, £100 on subscriptions, but yeah expensive subscriptions are driving the problem.

    10. Lo_jak on

      The system working as intended then….. this would indicate that a majority of people spend their wage on surviving until their next payday. Everything is so expensive now its actually depressing.

    11. Deadliftdeadlife on

      > Aviva recommended that Brits aim for a realistic and accessible savings safety net to help cover unexpected costs, before focusing on longer-term savings goals.

      Good advice if you can do it. For some it might take a long time to build that up though

      Especially when the recommended safety net is 3 months of outgoings

    12. bass_clown on

      What would that £850 bill be for?

      As a renter who doesn’t drive in London, this would be baffling high. A broken appliance would be covered by my deposit in a worst case.

      I have a credit card that would allow me to finance a major purchase/liability.

      Maybe that’s the difference? As I’m relatively debtless, perhaps that makes me one of the lucky ones.

    13. DTFDownToFrolick on

      Mate I can’t afford an unexpected £50 bill. Every month I tell myself, I’ve worked more this month so I’ll be better off next month. Then something comes out of the sidelines and bends me over the financial barrel and there goes my extra money.

      I am bored of struggling I must say.

    14. limeflavoured on

      This doesn’t surprise me. I personally could, easily (either from savings if I have a few days notice or with a credit card if not), but I earn enough to be able to save a bit and have pretty cheap bills.

    15. Ok_Anything3303 on

      I couldn’t cope with an unexpected £8.50 bill, what dream world would £850 ever be okay?

    16. peakedtooearly on

      Design a system to make people’s lives precarious. Ends up making people’s lives precarious.

      Who knew?

    17. bix_box on

      Why don’t articles like this have to link out to the research they are quoting? That should be the bare minimum. ‚Journalism‘ is so sad these days.

    18. pinkwar on

      Stop all subscriptions and food delivery for a year. I know it sucks but if you need to build a pot for a rainy day you got to do what you got to do.

    19. AncientJello8553 on

      I have said it before and will say it again. Sieze all privately owned rentals, especially large corporations, with zero compensation. Make private renting illegal, use proceeds to buy more housing stock. Reverse the destruction thatcher caused selling off all the social housing. Country would be a lot healthier long term.

    20. Bulky-Philosopher-20 on

      Boomers: ‚its all the luxury items that people are buying like coffee‘

    21. Born2Rune on

      I would say majority of couples can’t cope with that either. I guess we should cut down to the absolute bare minimum, not own anything and give more to our betters.

      Infact, instead of our lad completing his education, we should make him go work in the Pit or the Fields. Honest days work for an honest days pitance I guess. 

    22. cartesian5th on

      Will the govt announce a surprise bill allowance to all workers, or are unqualified handouts only for pensioners?

    23. Darkone539 on

      Well yeah. The government doesn’t give a shit about single adults, and so they don’t get anything.

    24. Webcat86 on

      This article has no details about the research, but the headline refers to people who live alone. For people who don’t live alone the figure drops to 23%. People who live alone could be a deliberate study choice to focus on people who typically have less money – young adults early in their career, for example. 

      The phrasing of the question itself always matters too, which the article doesn’t include. Why £850 specifically? Is it because £700 was affordable for more people and wasn’t drastic enough for a headline? 

      The researcher also matters. Aviva’s conclusion is to save more money, set up automatic transfers and use ISAs. Funnily enough, products Aviva itself offers. 

      Would Aviva release research that says “hey everyone, most people feel super comfortable with their finances, no need to save this month”? Of course not. 

      Cost of living is a problem, but always take these kinds of studies with a pinch of salt. 

    25. middleofaldi on

      House prices have been rising faster than wages for decades, mostly because of land prices. Land ownership is a zero sum game so those with land become richer and those who don’t become poorer. Wealth is flowing from the young and poor to the older and wealthier.

      The biggest determinant of success for young people is the price of their parents‘ home. We are marching ourselves towards a land based inheritocracy.

      [The housing crisis is a land crisis.](https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/the-housing-crisis-as-a-land-crisis) We need to socialise and redistribute land rents via a land value tax

    26. PullUpSkrr on

      I’ve always lived pay check to pay check, only when I met my GF could I actually start saving some money.

      Honestly unless you get lucky (massive bonus, bank of mum and dad) I feel like it’s impossible to get ahead on your own.

      When wages have stagnated, not keeping up with inflation and the average salary being 32k….how the fuck can you even afford anything.

      People want you to be broke and miserable, any modicum of comfort is denigrated. We can’t just work/survive.

    27. Behold_SV on

      And yet, if you say £40k a year is a low wage you get downvoted. Welcome to Reddit logic.

    28. Old-Law-7395 on

      The majority are probably wasting money on „luxuries“ like food, heating and housing

    29. StormBlessed7 on

      I understand people are struggling and it’s extremely difficult out there.
      However, £850 seems like a very low amount to send someone into ruin? Like that kind of bill is going to happen to the average person.

      Do they mean they can’t afford it out of their monthly pay? Or people don’t even have that amount on savings?

    30. Pheasant_Plucker84 on

      The shittest mandatory TV licence is the costliest subscription I have.

    31. Super-Attorney6017 on

      I don’t feel like I’m doing that well for myself, definitely still struggling sometimes. But my dishwasher broke recently, had to spend £600 to get a new one and get it installed. I feel grateful that that was something that we could just get sorted within a week and didn’t have to stress about it. 

    32. welshdragon888 on

      I’ve been working full time, ever week for over 20 years, my entire adult life.

      I have a few hundred quid spare at best. What I earn and the cost of living are effectively the same number.

    34. Only-Support-3760 on

      Is that unexpected bill a water company randomly increasing your usage by 400% not giving you any warning and slapping you with a massive fucking bill? Cause that’s what’s been happening to just about one person in every social group I have across the country.

    35. SuddenSquib on

      Look around at everyone’s cars. I’d say the majority of the population is financially illiterate.

    36. Cielo11 on

      I’m a Self employed driver.

      My brand new van in 2016′ was £16k. I earned around £35k then.

      My next van (identical van to above) in 2024 was £20k second hand, with 25k miles on it. I earn around £30k now for the same work. My expenses are much higher so I earn a lot less.

      In a few years time i don’t think I could afford the next Van. Self employed driver and the companies that contract us don’t pay us enough to own and maintain a fooking vehicle to do the job.

      It’s why you see „delivery couriers“ driving round in 20 year old Toyota Yaris. People are expected to work for minimum wage AND pay the costs of running the Business of multi billion £ companies.

      The situation has gotten insane, we a devolving.

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