Kevin Brown

The Family Finance Tracker, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) on behalf of Scottish Friendly, provides a comprehensive examination of the savings and investment habits of 2,600 UK adults. It shows what the modern mutual describes as a ‘sizeable shift’ in attitude to saving.

Of the 31% of Scots who are now saving more, 36% said it was because they are now more aware of the importance of saving than they were two years ago, compared to 25% when looking at the responses for the UK as a whole.

The contrast between Scotland and the UK as a whole extends to the reasons behind the ability to save more. Whereas UK-wide, people say they are saving more now than they did two years ago because they are earning more (43%), for Scotland that drops to 34% citing higher earnings as their reason.

Meanwhile for 16% of Scots, they cite making fewer debt repayments now (compared to 12% for the UK as a whole) for their reason for saving more now.

In addition, Scots, it seems, have taken the lessons of recent economic volatility to heart. Of those who said they were saving more now than they were two years ago, 31% said it was because economic conditions have encouraged them to be more cautious (compared to 28% for the UK as a whole).

Kevin Brown, savings specialist at Scottish Friendly, said: “The uncertainty of the last few years has hit people in so many different ways. Many families are still reeling from the impact, and likely will for some considerable time to come.

“However, the 2024 Family Finance Tracker shows that there has at least been one positive knock-on effect as we see an increased awareness and importance of ensuring your family has a financial buffer in place.

“Rainy day funds are a great starting point for increasing financial resilience, enabling you and your family to weather financial knocks.

“We hope for everyone’s sake that relief from the cost of living squeeze comes quickly. What it has done is show just how important it is to have a financial safety net for short-term needs, as well, of course, for medium- and long-term needs.”