Glaswegians are UK’s biggest Christmas spenders despite high budget pressures

This is in contrast to the UK’s stingiest spenders in Sheffield who only plan on splashing out £456.60.

However, 84 per cent of people in Glasgow admit to always going over budget at Christmas and the average worker expects to put £234.40 of their festive expenditure on credit cards or loans. People expect to be paying off their Christmas debt for four months in the New Year, meaning they’ll be in the red until April. For this reason, this a lucrative time of year for predatory, high-interest credit providers.

The news comes from new research which shines a light on the crippling cost of Christmas for Glasgow’s workforce - where nearly a third of people rely on shift, part time or freelance work - with many now calling for greater understanding and flexibility from their employers and 43 per cent of shift workers and freelancers are having to take on extra shifts over Christmas to cover the extra expense.

The research, commissioned by financial wellbeing experts Wagestream, revealed the extent of financial stress that hits the city’s workforce over the holiday period, with 76 percent of Glaswegians saying they feel anxious or depressed about the cost of Christmas this year.

In fact, 85 per cent of people in Glasgow see Christmas as the most stressful time of the year, with over half (59 per cent) worrying about money at least once a day in the run up to the big day. Out of all workers in the UK, Glaswegians are most likely (27 per cent)  to be worrying about “not having enough work over Christmas to pay the bills”.

Other concerns felt by residents include: “the stress of having to pay for everything” (49 per cent), “not being able to afford the type of Christmas that their family deserves” (33 per cent) and “the feeling that everyone is is doing better by comparison” (30 per cent).

Residents of the city are looking for support from their employers, with 59 percent of workers saying that it would be easier to avoid turning to credit during the festive period if they had the flexibility to access their income outside of the monthly pay cycle.

A more flexible income would make a particularly big difference to shift workers and freelancers, 59 per cent of whom would pick up more shifts if they could access their pay as they earned it.

“It’s time for businesses to accept accountability for the true cost of Christmas on working Brits, and help address the problem,” says Peter Briffett, CEO and co-founder of Wagestream.

“The data makes clear that staff want more certainty and more financial flexibility from their employers. This is a huge opportunity for British businesses: offering the ability to access earned income before late-January will help staff avoid the ‘payday poverty’ cycle of overdrafts, credit cards and high-interest loans - improving employee wellbeing, productivity and retention in the process.”

Erik Porter, head of adult & industry programmes at The Money Charity, added: “Being on top of your money means you are more in control of your life; it has a huge impact on your day-to-day wellbeing, including productivity at work. It’s concerning to see such anxiety over the cost of Christmas this year - especially with vulnerable employees hardest hit. But these findings offer businesses a valuable chance to better understand their workforce, and begin offering the types of flexibility and benefits that will really help the British workforce better manage their money over the festive period.”