From savings and investments to borrowing and debt – More in Common’s latest polling explores the public’s attitudes to personal finances, through the lens of the Seven Segments of Britain.

Having conducted some public opinion polling on the issue, More in Common Research Associate Rhiannon McQuone hosted a webinar to present the research’s findings. A recording of this webinar can be found at the bottom of this webpage, or you can download the slides by clicking the ‘View report’ button at the top of this page.

Savings

Of all of the Seven Segments, Traditional Conservatives and Established Liberals tend to feel the most comfortable financially. They are the most likely segments to own their own home, feel satisfied with the amount of money they currently save, and experience few barriers to saving.

Progressive Activists, a typically younger segment who are often renting in big cities and trying to pay off their student debt, feel more squeezed. A majority (56 per cent) would like to be saving more than they are, mostly for an emergency fund (19 per cent) or to buy their first home (15 per cent). They share this desire for financial security with Rooted Patriots, 19 per cent of whom are saving to build an emergency fund. These two segments both experience high threat perception – feeling like the world poses danger to them and that they need to insulate themselves from that financially.

Dissenting Disruptors are the only segment for which ‘not trusting that institutions will keep my money safe’ falls into the top 5 barriers to saving more money – reflecting their wider distrust in elites.

Above any other barrier, ‘not having enough money left over after buying the essentials’ comes out top of the list of reasons why a majority of segments struggle to save. Once again, for most Britons the ongoing high cost of living takes centre stage in the lives of so many members of the public.

Personal investments

The segment most likely to be making personal investments are the Established Liberals; not only do a majority make some investments, but a plurality (27 per cent) actively curate and manage their own investment portfolio, rather than relying on pre-made portfolios. A majority of Traditional Conservatives also have money held in investments, but are much less likely to regularly add to it or manage it.

Across the board, among every segment, Britons are more likely to think that interest bearing savings accounts are ‘for people like me’ than personal investments – even among the segments who are more likely to investments, the Established Liberals and the Traditional Conservatives.

This gap is widest among the Rooted Patriots. While 11 per cent of this segment think that savings accounts aren’t for people like them, 56 per cent say the same thing about personal investments. This group, often financially struggling, but more likely to own their own home, are also the segment least likely to have ever considered investing (44 per cent having never thought about it). They appear to take a more security-focussed strategy to money management: they have prioritised buying a house, and ‘building an emergency fund’ is this segment’s most common long-term savings goal.

Dissenting Disruptors are the group least likely to think that investing is ‘for people like them’, with just 35 per cent saying they think investing is for them.

Borrowing and debt

One in five Britons have debt that they don’t feel good about, including 7 per cent who say their debt feels ‘overwhelming’. Sceptical Scrollers – a young, very online segment – are the most likely to feel overwhelmed by their debt (16 per cent), while just 2 per cent of Established Liberals and Traditional Conservatives say the same.

To establish whether there is a stigma surrounding the word ‘debt’, half of respondents were asked about their views on ‘debt’, and the other asked about their views on ‘borrowing money’.

Despite many Sceptical Scrollers’ negative experiences with debt, they are the segment least likely to change their view, depending on whether debt is called ‘debt’ or ‘borrowing money’. 35 per cent think borrowing money is to be avoided at all costs, and 33 per cent say the same about debt.

Progressive Activists are the segment most likely to feel negative about debt. More than half (53 per cent) have no debt at all, and 44 per cent think that dept is something to be avoided at all costs. Half as many think that borrowing money should be avoided at all costs. There is something about ‘debt’ specifically that gets Progressive Activists’ backs up, that ‘borrowing money’ is less likely to do. For some Progressive Activists, this could be a product of their experience with the student loan system. Many are on the Plan 2 student loans, and many think the repayment structure of these loans is unfair. Their their strong sense of social justice makes this perceived injustice resonate particularly strongly.

To watch the full recording of Rhiannon delivering the webinar, find the video below