Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the proportion of households that have financial reserves to cover basic costs for (i) three months and (ii) six months.

The Government is committed to monitoring and understanding households’ personal finances in order to inform policy making to help people manage their money well, encourage them to save and access support if they need to get their finances back on track. As such, the Government works closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and engages regularly with many other stakeholders on their research and findings.

The FCA conducts biennial Financial Lives Survey of 16,000 adults which provides a comprehensive insight into the finances of the UK population. The latest findings from the survey were published in February 2021. MaPS monitor financial difficulty through an annual survey of 22,000 people. MaPS will publish the results of the survey later in 2021.