It is a sobering fact that an average person in the UK will spend approximately 2 years** (or 16,848 hours) during their lifetime stressing about their spending and borrowing habits, which is equivalent to 730 sleepless nights.

Almost one in two (48%) of the 3,000 UK adults surveyed on behalf of The Co-operative Bank claimed to be either ‘concerned or deeply concerned’ about their increasing levels of debt, with 80 per cent of people confessing to being ‘troubled’ about their lack of savings.

People in the North West were the biggest money ‘worry-warts’ where an overwhelming majority (78%) admitted to being ‘stressed or very stressed’ about their finances. Adults in Northern Ireland were the least likely (69%) to be concerned about their debt and inadequate saving provisions.

Undergraduates, recent graduates, and people at an early stage in their careers (18 – 30 year olds) spend almost two days per month (46 hours) worrying about their finances, with nearly 1 in 2 admitting that they dedicated 10 hours and above each week trying to balance their accounts. Whilst the over 55s wasted the least time on money matters, with 9 in 10 dedicating an average of 2 and a half hours per week.

The research also revealed that in gender stakes it is women who are the biggest ‘worriers’ when it comes to money matters, and less likely to possess a savings product than their financially savvy male counterparts.

Despite almost three-quarters (71%) of Brits claiming to hold at least one savings product; with over half (55%) of those people investing in a cash ISA, worryingly only a fifth have actually taken full advantage of tax-free savings and invested in a cash ISA this year.

Scott McPhail, Savings Product Manager at The Co-operative Bank said: “It is worryingly clear from the research that the vast majority of UK adults are deeply concerned about their finances, with rising levels of debt and inadequate saving provisions responsible for countless sleepless nights nationwide. 

“At The Co-operative Bank we would like to stress to people that it’s never too late to regain control of your finances - taking full advantage of your tax-free savings allowance before April and investing as little a pound in a cash ISA is one way that you can help to ease the strain.”

Research conducted by Onepoll.com on behalf of The Co-operative Bank in January 2008 with a representative sample of 3,000 UK adults

*13 billion hours calculated as follows = UK population (60,587,00) according to Office for National Statistics x average number of hours per year, per person spent stressing about debt (210.6)

**2 years or 16,848 hours calculated as follows = UK average life expectancy (mean expectancy 80 years) according to Office for National Statistics x average number of hours per year (210.6)