The credit crunch is in the news all the time. But how are ordinary families affected? The Family and Parenting Institute listens to the experiences of families of all kinds, on the key issues that matter to them, to inform policymakers and public debate.

The results of this survey, carried out by YouGov, show that rising bills and job insecurity mean families who might have considered themselves secure are now concerned about how they are going to cope. For others, struggling financially on a low income is nothing new, since the prosperous Britain of the past decade has hidden high inequality and child poverty.