The latest Poverty in Scotland report from JRF includes a survey of 4,196 Scottish households, thought to be the biggest of its kind. It found people are increasingly fearful for the future and cutting back on the basics of survival.

The results show:

• People’s finances are already fragile. A third of all people surveyed said they have either no savings or their savings were less than £250. Single parents were more than twice as likely to have little or no savings (70%).
• People are desperately cutting back. Going without essentials is endemic – nearly 2 in 3 (65%) have cut back on an essential while 1 in 4 (26%) have cut back on 3 or more essentials. Even the basics are hard to come by with 3 in 4 households having already cut back on the basics.
• People feel insecure and fear for the worst. More than one in five people said they felt their household financial situation was very insecure.
• The cost-of-living crisis is having a deleterious impact on people’s mental health. Three in four families with a child where someone has a disability said it had a negative impact on their mental health. The number was even higher for families with a baby – four in five.