The majority of workers resort to borrowing to cover the cost of Christmas. Research from Hastee study finds 71% of workers in the UK and Ireland source additional funds during the festive period and 61% admit Christmas-related financial stress impacts their performance at work. This should be worrying news for employers after the Office for National Statistics reported the worst drop in UK productivity in five years earlier this year.
Almost half of workers (47%) use high cost credit options such as payday loans, credit cards and overdrafts to pay for the Christmas period which means festive spending encourages a significant number of workers to accumulate debt. More than half of workers (53%) say Christmas forces them to live beyond their means and 35% say the cost of Christmas often leaves them unable to pay their bills.
Hastee’s research reveals 61% of workers worry about how to source money for Christmas and 18% say the closure of payday lenders has added to this worry. This highlights a widespread reliance on high-cost borrowing during the festive season caused by a lack of liquidity in workers’ personal finances.
Over half of workers (55%) work overtime to save extra money before the Christmas period compared to 48% last year, and 40% have worked more than one job at the same time to raise more funds. While employers may see this as good thing, the impact on work-life balance could be detrimental to productivity, especially among workers who push themselves to burnout.
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