Half of Brits have multiple incomes each month
Half of people in the UK have more than one regular monthly income credited to their current account, which could potentially make budgeting more difficult.
New research carried out for budgeting account provider Thinkmoney.co.uk has revealed that nearly half (45%) of respondents have two or more regular incomes. Over a quarter of respondents (27%) said that they have two incomes credited to their account each month and a further 18% - equivalent to almost nine million people – said they have three or more monthly incomes coming into their account.
Possible sources of money people have entering their accounts each month include theirs and their partner’s wages (which may be paid weekly or fortnightly), working or child tax credits, benefits (including Child Benefit), pension and child maintenance payments. The rise in self-employed workers has seen more people coping with sporadic and irregular incomes too.
Ian Williams, spokesman for thinkmoney, says: “It tempting to think of budgeting as a simple process – with a single income from which all the month’s bills can be paid. However, for half of us life isn’t that simple and people with multiple incomes often find it tricky budgeting across the month for large outgoings such as mortgage or rent payments.
“The thinkmoney Personal Account, for which charges apply, is designed to help those who struggle to budget by ring-fencing just enough funds from each income to ensure all the month’s bills are met.”
Having multiple incomes can make budgeting more complicated, but the number of different sources of funds people have coming into their accounts is still greatly outweighed by the number they have going out. On average, people tend to have five regular bill payments each month – but plenty have far more than that. In fact, almost one in five people (18%) have ten Direct Debits or Standing Orders leaving their account a month, and 3% make more than 15 regular monthly payments.
Regular outgoings could include mortgage/rent payments, utilities like gas, electric and water, building, contents, car and life insurance, and council tax. Other regular bill payments like landline and mobile phone bills, TV subscription packages, broadband and childcare fees could push the number of outgoings people have up even more.
Respondents aged over 55 years old were the most likely to say they have more than one income, which might be because many people in this age group may be in receipt of a pension. More than half (54%) of over-55s revealed they have more than one source of income, compared to a third (33%) of 18 to 24-year-olds who said the same.