British families felt a tighter squeeze on their finances in April compared to March.
Data group Markit found that thirty two per cent of households in April found their budgets stretched even more, compared to just eight per cent who seen an improvement.
The first month-on-month fall since December 2012, the reading feel to 37.7 in April which is down from 39.3 in March.
“With first quarter GDP set to take centre-stage later this week, this survey provides a timely reminder that triple-dip or no triple-dip, there has been little alleviation of the strain on households’ financial well being so far this year.” said Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit.
Based on responses from 1,500 people from across the United Kingdom it looks like the squeeze on cash is affecting everyone as families have lower income but higher living costs.
The hardest hit were those earning between £15,000-£23,000 as were those renting from local authorities and house associations. With the gap between public and private sectors getting wider in terms of job security as private sectors saw a moderate increase in employment where public sector reported a slight drop.
Do you feel worse off? has your family budget been stretched to the maximum? You are not alone as research from Halifax showed that half of Britons feel they are financially worse off than a year ago.
Will it get worse? according to the survey 42% of households expect it to compared to the 27% who predict improvement.
Has your family felt the squeeze even more than usual in April? Will it improve for you and your family? and how will you try and make your finance’s stretch through May? Comment using our comments box below:
