LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwire) -- 12/10/12 -- Independent research commissioned by Callcredit has today revealed that 30% of consumers are finding it increasingly difficult to put any of their salaries aside each month as financial pressures continue to squeeze take home pay.

Key Findings:

--  50 per cent of people who currently have debt have a form of unsecured
    loan. 
--  30 per cent of those aged 18-24 think it will take be between 5 and 10
    years to pay off their debt. 
--  30 per cent of those who have an income say they save none of it. 
--  Just over a fifth saves only between 1-5 per cent. 
--  24 per cent confirmed that the cost of Utilities is putting the biggest
    strain on their finances. 
--  39 per cent of people think that they will spend less money this
    Christmas than they did at Christmas 2011. 

With average credit card and loan balances remaining broadly constant over the last eighteen months the signs are that consumers are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet, often using their entire take home pay to keep up with the rising cost of living and repayments on financial commitments such as mortgage, credit/store card, overdraft and unsecured loans.

The YouGov research showed that 45 to 54 year olds seem to be feeling the most pain with 40 per cent confirming that they save nothing at all each month and a total of 63 per cent confirming that the cost of either, food, utilities or mortgage repayments were causing the most strain on their finances.

In addition respondents were specifically asked if they would be cutting back on spending this Christmas as a direct impact of the economic climate with 39 per cent confirming they would be intending to do so. However for those with three or more children this figure jumped to 52 per cent.

Graham Lund, Managing Director, Callcredit Information Group said, "These findings demonstrate that many people are living on a financial knife edge with little or no room to cope with changes in their financial situation. The freeze in the planned January fuel duty announced by the government will no doubt help consumers but as financial pressures continue to mount it is now more important than ever that consumers' don't overstretch themselves."

Notes to editors:

Research information

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2037 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 30th November and 3rd December 2012. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

About Callcredit Information Group - www.callcredit.co.uk

Callcredit Information Group's leading approach to deploying consumer information brings together experts across the fields of credit referencing, marketing services, interactive solutions and consultative analytics to provide businesses and consumers with a range of innovative products and services.

In a first for UK consumers, Callcredit launched Noddle (www.noddle.co.uk), a service that offers people free access to their personal monthly credit reports for life.

Callcredit's business solutions are designed to help companies discover new customers and improve their engagement with existing customers. Products include award-winning fraud verification tools, consumer marketing data and segmentation to improve customer understanding, global operations to help expand businesses into new markets, and digital / interactive solutions.

Callcredit are experts on the subject of affordability assessment and have a suite of data products that allow lenders to achieve a complete view of customer's finances.

Callcredit also offers bespoke debt recovery and tracing tools, and market analysis and network planning for a range of sectors.