Overview 

Around one-in-six (17%) households in Scotland – nearly 450,000 households – are ‘in serious financial difficulties’, meaning it is a real struggle for them to meet their day-to-day expenses, with many behind on their household bills or credit commitments. This matches the level of serious financial difficulties across the rest of the UK (17%). One-in-twenty Scottish households (4.6%) said they had accessed a foodbank in the past four weeks, which is significantly higher than in the rest of the UK (3.2%). Households with children were more likely to have accessed a foodbank in Scotland (10%) than elsewhere in the UK (6%). 

Financial difficulties are taking a toll on households’ health and wellbeing as well. Nearly two-in-five Scottish householders (38%) felt that their financial situation was making their mental health worse; and a similar proportion felt that financial worries were causing them to sleep poorly (37%). These levels are similar to the rest of the UK (40% for mental health impacts and 39% for sleep impacts).

Within Scotland, there are geographical differences in the level of financial wellbeing. There is a marked rural-urban divide, with households in large urban areas performing worse on all our indicators of financial wellbeing compared to rural households. Households in the most deprived quintile of areas meanwhile were over four times more likely to be in financial difficulties (31%, cf. 7%) and nearly twice as likely to be losing sleep over their finances (51%, cf. 28%). 

Heading into winter, nearly four-in-ten Scottish households (38%) said their energy bills were unaffordable (similar to the level in the rest of the UK: 40%), rising to 45% of prepayment meter users. Almost all households (85%) had taken steps in the past six months to help them to afford their energy bills - with significant numbers resorting to using their cooker or oven less (38%); taking fewer showers or baths (27%); and cutting back spending on food (24%). Adding to cost-of-living pressures, over half (55%) of households that were paying rent or a mortgage in Scotland had seen these costs increase within the last six months. 

Looking ahead to the coming year, around half (47%) of all households in Scotland were ‘very’ or ‘quite worried’ about their overall financial situation in the next 12 months.

Key findings

Around one-in-six (17%) households in Scotland – nearly 450,000 households – are ‘in serious financial difficulties.

One-in-twenty Scottish households (4.6%) said they had accessed a foodbank in the past four weeks, which is significantly higher than in the rest of the UK (3.2%).

Households with children were more likely to have accessed a foodbank in Scotland (10%) than elsewhere in the UK (6%).

Nearly two-in-five Scottish householders (38%) felt that their financial situation was making their mental health worse.

About the research

This briefing uses data from the ninth wave of the Financial Fairness Tracker survey to provide a picture of the financial wellbeing of households in Scotland in late 2023. It starts with an overview of the financial wellbeing of Scottish households in October 2023, which shows a similar picture to the rest of the UK but with some variations in patterns of saving and borrowing. We then go on to compare levels of financial wellbeing in the sub-regions of Scotland, before looking in detail at two big costs that Scottish households face – energy and housing. In the penultimate section, we explore how different groups of households in Scotland are faring financially – presenting new analysis looking at households with children and those with a disabled householder. We finish by considering how confident Scottish households feel about their future finances in the short and long term.  

About the Tracker

abrdn Financial Fairness Trust has commissioned a periodic cross-sectional survey to track the financial situation of UK households since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. The latest wave of this survey – conducted in October 2023 – gives insight into the nation’s finances during the ongoing cost of living crisis. The findings are based on responses from over 6,000 UK households (including 896 households in Scotland) about their income, payment of bills, borrowing, debt, savings and ability to pay for other essentials such as food. A team from the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol analysed data collected by Opinium and produced these findings.

This briefing uses data from the ninth wave of the Financial Fairness Tracker survey to provide a picture of the financial wellbeing of households in Scotland in late 2023.