We only use cookies for website functionality and security.

How are our savers navigating the Covid-19 pandemic?

At the start of autumn, we engaged with more than 8,000 of our customers to find out exactly how they were feeling about money as a result of the pandemic.

Our survey showed that 60% of customers were still spending less in September than they were prior to lockdown. This is despite most of the economic restrictions starting to lift, plus schemes such as Eat Out to Help Out launching in August to help rejuvenate the economy and the hospitality sector.

However, when we asked customers if they thought their spending habits had been permanently changed, we saw different age groups report very varied attitudes. Amongst our millennial savers, only 35% anticipated that their spending would return to pre-lockdown levels once all restrictions were lifted, in contrast to 70% of over 70s. Younger savers were twice more likely to feel like they’d picked up positive saving habits during lockdown, which they wanted to keep long-term.

This is perhaps explained by the fact our younger savers might still be learning to manage their finances compared to more experienced customers. If you belong to that age group, you might also have fewer savings to fall back on – hence why younger age groups were also twice more likely to seek to build up an emergency fund during the pandemic.

Despite these variances, our survey showed that saving money post-pandemic was a priority for most of our savers regardless of age, although savings goals were again much higher amongst younger people, who we know are more heavily impacted by the economic repercussions of Covid-19.

To try and evaluate the more long-term impact of the pandemic on spending habits, we asked customers if they’d noted a more fundamental shift in the way they perceive money and spending. The lockdown period did encourage many customers to reconsider, with more than a quarter (27%) claiming to feel less materialistic as a result of the pandemic, and four in ten saying they were now more likely to prioritise spending money on experiences than they were material possessions. A vast majority (60%) agreed that they valued spending time more with friends and family following the lockdown period.