7.6 million low earner households

4.6 million non-retired households; 2.9 million retired households

13.4 million adults in low earner households = 9.1 million working age low earners and 4.4 million retired

54 % of low earners are female, 46 % male

29 % of total adult population are classified as low earners

4.3 million children = 33 per cent of total child population

Low earner households over-represented in North West, Scotland and Eastern regions; under-represented in North East, Wales and London

Heads of low earner households less likely to be white than heads of other income group households

Heads of low earner households over-represented in older (>55) and younger (<34) adult age groups

78% of low earners were in bad financial health prior to the recession

In March 2009, 71% of low earners saying they have stopped managing their finances correctly, making cut backs on paying off credit cards or saving in pensions

In March 2009 40% of low earners saying they were not confident or not sure about their job security

In March 2009 85% of low earners saying they had made cut backs on their household spending such as on heating, food and clothes

Low earners gross annual household income is between £11,650 and £27,150

low earners could be up to £60,000 better off by the age of 60 if they made sounder financial decisions

Nearly 3 million low earners now worry ‘all the time’ about their personal finances - this is double the number in 2007

In 2007, only 1 in 10 low earners worried ‘all the time’ about their finances, compared to nearly 1 in 5 today.

Low earners are more likely to have experience of the care system – they are 25% more likely to be carers.

Older low earners say they find the care system complex, inaccessible, and unfair with 58% saying they would, or have, found it difficult to get the advice and information they need.

Low earners’ primary source of wealth is their home, often having limited savings.

72% of low earners are homeowners with levels of wealth that can exclude them from free care.

Low earners are more likely than average to believe that the individual, other than the very poor, should be making a contribution to their care costs in old age.

78% of low earners think that reform of the long-term care system is as or more important than improving hospitals.