Financial resilience report 2025 – Another year of pressure
In our Financial Resilience Report 2025 – Another year of pressure, we explore how people are continuing to cope with high costs and bills more than three years after the onset of the cost of living crisis.
Three years of research
Since 2022, we’ve been tracking and gathering a wealth of data on how rapidly changing prices, bills and interest rates are affecting people’s finances and behaviour. You can read the full report at the end of the page; what follows is a summary of the key points.
We carried out our latest research from the end of February to the beginning of March 2025, asking our respondents how the persistently high cost of living is affecting their daily spending as well as their longer-term financial resilience.
The results provide us with meaningful year-on-year comparisons and insights into people’s experiences and behaviours since our first Financial Resilience Report in 2024. While some markers of financial resilience have noticeably improved in the last 12 months, others have only shifted slightly or only for certain groups.
Bills still rising for many
As was the case last year, we found that the vast majority of people saw an increase in their basic bills (such as food and energy). The only exception was housing, there this year 27% of people said costs had not increased or had fallen compared to 21% in 2024.
There was a slight, but welcome, decrease in the percentage of people who said their financial resilience (the ability to cope financially with a life shock, such as an unexpected bill or job loss) had been affected over the last 12 months. It fell from 55% in February 2024 to half of our respondents (50%) this year. Similarly, there was a slight fall in the number of people describing themselves as being in financial crisis, namely, unable to pay their bills, compared to last year (2% of UK adults in 2025 compared to 3% in 2024).
Low cash savings still a concern
People’s lack of short-term cash savings has – worryingly - stayed consistent over the last two years, with one in five people (20% in 2025 compared to 19% in 2024) telling us they have less than £100 in cash savings. With little or no cash put aside, they continue to be vulnerable to any unexpected expenses that could arise.
Fewer retirement plans affected
Turning to longer-term financial resilience, in February 2024, three quarters (75%) of adults told us that their retirement savings and plans had been affected by the higher cost of living. This year, it has fallen significantly to 43%.
This could be interpreted as people starting to feel their pension plans are getting back on track or even that they believe they have time to make up any shortfall. However, given that most people (69%) don’t know the value of their pension pots or considered how much money they may need in retirement (52%), this result could reflect a lack of awareness rather than any real improvement.
Tentative signs of recovery
A year on from our last Financial Resilience Report, there are some tentative signs of a recovery in financial resilience, but the full impact of the cost of living crisis and ongoing high bills remains unclear. Many people still lack financial security and, understandably, continue to focus on covering day-to-day expenses rather than longer-term savings and investments. This could result in them having to make serious compromises later in life, particularly in retirement.
[1] All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov plc. Total sample size was 4,003 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26 February and 5 March 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
[1] As measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI).
