Women across Britain are significantly more anxious than men about meeting everyday living costs over the coming year, with new research warning that mounting financial pressure is forcing many to rely on borrowing and eating into long-term savings rather than building financial resilience for the future.

The Family Finance Tracker study by Scottish Friendly found that 71% of women are worried about affording their regular outgoings over the next 12 months, compared with 60% of men — a gap researchers say reflects the disproportionate squeeze facing female households.

The mutual's findings paint a picture of women increasingly turning to short-term coping measures to get by. Over the past year, 21% have borrowed from friends or family to cover essentials such as food and bills, against 16% of men. Nearly a quarter (23%) have used Buy Now, Pay Later schemes, compared with 19% of men, while 27% have resorted to credit cards for everyday costs, against 24% of men.

Women were also more likely to have dipped into long-term savings, taken out a personal loan or used an overdraft. In total, two-thirds (67%) said they had taken at least one such step to cover outgoings in the past year, compared with 62% of men.

The sense of financial strain runs deeper still. Even before renewed tensions in the Middle East added fresh uncertainty to the economic outlook, a third of women (33%) said they felt worse off than a year earlier, compared with a quarter of men (25%). More than a third of women (37%) said they felt less financially secure than they had before 2020, against 28% of men.

That day-to-day pressure appears to be crowding out longer-term financial planning. Six in 10 women (60%) said they had not opened or started using any savings or investment product in the past three months, compared with 53% of men. Women were also less likely to hold a cash or stocks and shares ISA — 41%, against 51% of men.
Among women who had opened a savings or investment product, the most common reason cited, by 34%, was a growing awareness of the importance of saving.

Jill Mackay, a savings expert at Scottish Friendly, said the findings pointed to something more pressing than the "hesi-saving" trend the mutual has previously identified, in which people build up cash reserves while putting off investment decisions.

"While our previous research has pointed to a wider trend of 'hesi-saving' — when people build cash savings while hesitating over a move into investments — these latest findings suggest that for many women, the immediate challenge may be even more fundamental than that," she said.

"When regular costs are already leading some to borrow, use credit, or dip into long-term savings, investing can understandably feel further down the list of priorities. Cash may feel safer, simpler and more accessible.

"For many, the priority may be covering essential costs, reducing reliance on expensive debt where appropriate, and building enough emergency cash before they feel able to consider longer-term investment options."

Ms Mackay warned that prolonged financial pressure risked leaving many women without the resilience needed to withstand future shocks.

"But the longer women remain under financial pressure, the harder it could be to build the kind of long-term resilience that saving and investing can help support," she said. "With more women saying they feel less financially secure than they did before 2020, improving understanding of the role long-term saving and investing can play is potentially more important than ever."

She added that those with spare financial capacity need not take on undue risk to make progress.

"For those who do have the financial headroom — depending on individual circumstances and goals — investing gradually can be one way to potentially grow money over time," she said. "It does not necessarily mean taking higher levels of risk than you are comfortable with or putting large sums into the market all at once. Steady, regular investments held for the long term could play an important role in building towards financial resilience."