The average British consumer needs more than £1,000 in order to make ends meet, according to the latest figures.

Financial services firm Egg maintains that the typical UK consumer needs roughly £1,077 per month in order to cover their household bills and their debt repayments.

Repaying personal loan and credit card debt puts serious strain on household incomes and most working Britons would be unable to support their families if they lost their job.

Tobias van der Meer, head of consumer banking and investments at Egg, commented: “As a rule of thumb, it has long been considered sensible for families to have cash savings of at least three months’ income, for any of life’s emergencies.

“However, our research highlights that far from being a precaution, these savings are a necessity.”

Meanwhile, the Co-operative Bank reported recently that people living in the UK spend on average more than £9,000 on Saturdays throughout the year.

An increasing number of British women are aiming to become financially independent, according to recent research.

Many thousands of women are among the millions of UK consumers looking to clear debt and three-quarter of female Britons feel the idea of men being a family’s main breadwinner is outdated.

A smaller proportion, close to two-thirds, of British men agree that their role in family is not necessarily that of the sole wage-earner and women are increasingly taking charge of their own financial affairs, the Carter Allen Private Bank reports.

“It’s intriguing to see that more men feel there is a place in society for the traditional ‘male breadwinner’ than women,” said Sally Watts, marketing director at the group behind the research.

“This highlights the changing attitudes amongst young British women towards independence and financial self-sufficiency.”

A report last year from uSwitch revealed that British women accounted for more than £30 billion in unsecured personal loan and credit card debt.