40% usings savings for daily bills - survey

For two out of every five people that ‘rainy day’ has come and they are dipping into their savings to compensate for lost income, according to a survey by EBS Building Society.

The average amount being saved each year at €4,400 has also fallen and is 8 per cent below the annual average found in a similar survey in January.

Aidan Power, head of marketing at EBS, said the research indicated many people were finding “the day when they need to be able to fall back on their savings has arrived”.

Those most likely to be accessing their savings were women, those aged between 35 and 50 years-of-age and those aged over 65.

For 25 per cent of people the savings were used to meet general living expenses, where as six months ago travel or car purchases would have been the most common use of savings.

According to the survey 20 per cent of adults do not save while 46 per cent of those who do tend to put aside whatever is left over at the end of the month.

Just over a third or 36 per cent save a specific amount each month into a dedicated savings account. This latter group has seen the sharpest decline at 16 per cent in the amount they save, with periodic savers putting away 7 per cent less per annum.

Just over 1,000 adults were interviewed by Behaviour and Attitudes for the survey during April 30th and May 9th with quotas and ratings used to make the sample representative.