UK works 31 days ‘to clear interest’

According to financial advice website Unbiased, the UK has to work the whole month of January to earn enough just to service the interest on its personal debts.

Research shows that in order to clear the average interest amount of £2,012, it would take someone earning the UK average of £23,556, 31 days to pay off the interest.

David Elms, chief executive of Unbiased, commented: “Why spend an entire month slaving away to earn just enough money to service the interest on this financial burden?

“Surely people would rather see this money work hard for them in return, and deliver them a healthy savings pot or a nest egg to enjoy in the future.”

The good news for borrowers is that levels of personal debt have gone down by seven per cent over the last three years, while interest has decreased by 59 per cent, Unbiased said.

Price comparison site uSwitch recently dubbed January 17th as the poorest day of 2007 because of the length of time since December’s pre-Christmas paycheck and mounting debts from the festive season.