Every sixth person has no buffer against unforeseen expenses

Every sixth person lacks a cash buffer against unforeseen expenses. It is more common for women to lack a cash buffer than men. Younger, single parents, blue-collar workers and persons with a foreign background lack a cash buffer to a greater extent than others.

Approximately one in every sixth person answered ‘no’ to the question about whether they were able to pay an unexpected expense of SEK 8 000 within one month without borrowing the money or asking for help. It is more common for women to lack a cash buffer than men, or 20 percent of women compared to 15 percent of men. This is indicated by the Statistics Sweden Living Conditions Surveys (ULF/SILC).

It is more common that younger persons lack a cash buffer than older persons. Every fourth woman and every fifth man in the 25-34 age group had no cash buffer compared with every tenth person in the 65-74 age group.

No cash buffer, by age and sex. 2010/11. Percent

It is more common for single parents and persons with a foreign background to lack a cash buffer

It is more common for single parents to lack a cash buffer for unexpected expenses compared to cohabitees, or every second single parent compared to just under one in ten cohabitees.

Persons with a foreign background lack a cash buffer to a greater extent than those with a Swedish background. Every third person with a foreign background has no cash buffer compared to every seventh person with a Swedish background. Among persons with a foreign background, women and men lack a cash buffer to approximately the same extent. Among persons with a Swedish background, it is more common for women to lack a cash buffer than men.

More common for blue-collar workers to lack a cash buffer

It is more common for blue-collar workers to lack a cash buffer than white-collar workers, or every fourth blue-collar worker compared to every tenth white-collar worker. The differences are even greater if we look at sub-groups. Among blue-collar workers without professional training, three out of ten answered that they would not be able to manage to pay an unforeseen expense of SEK 8 000 within one month without borrowing the money or asking for help. This can be compared to one in twenty senior white-collar workers.

More about living conditions 2010/2011

More tables and graphs from the Living Conditions Survey 2010/2011 are now available on Statistics Sweden's website.

In English

Statistical database

In Swedish

Definitions and explanations

No cash buffer: Answered ‘no’ to the interview question: Would you/your household be able to pay an unexpected expense of SEK 8 000 within one month without borrowing the money or asking for help?

Blue-collar and white-collar workers: The main category of “Manual workers” covers occupations that normally have employee organisations affiliated to LO (Swedish Trade Union Confederation), while other employees are classified as “White-collar workers”. Sub-groups have then been classified according to the educational requirements for the occupation.