7.4m people struggling with bills and credit repayments in January 2024 – FCA

More than seven million people across the UK were estimated to be struggling with bills and credit repayments in January, according to the City regulator.

Renters, single adults with children, adults from a minority ethnic background and people living in the north east of England were particularly likely to be in financial difficulty, the research indicates.

Unemployed adults and others not in work such as the long-term sick and full-time carers were also more likely to be struggling financially compared with the UK average.

Across the research, one in seven (14% or an estimated 7.4 million people across the UK) adults felt heavily burdened keeping up with domestic bills and credit commitments at the start of 2024 – an improvement from the one in five (21% or an estimated 10.9