Low-income households have been increasingly turning to credit to get by during the coronavirus crisis, while many wealthy households have found themselves better off as their normal spending patterns have been constrained by lockdown.

The findings from Resolution Foundation suggest that the pandemic has widened the gap between rich and poor.

Its publication, Rainy Days, in partnership with the Standard Life Foundation, found that lower-income households are twice as likely as high-income households to have increased their use of consumer credit during the crisis.

Low income households are also 50 per cent more likely to be saving less than usual, leaving them particularly exposed to the ongoing economic crisis.

A typical worker in one of the sectors of the economy that was shut down during lockdown, who is therefore most at risk of unemployment, had average savings of just £1,900 compared to £4,700 of someone who has been able to work from home during the crisis. 

Meanwhile, with much of the economy closed, high-income families have been unable to continue their previous consumption patterns, the report finds. 

This has led to “forced” saving with over one-third of the richest fifth of households increasing their net worth during the first months of the crisis.

The report shows that the wealth gap between the richest and poorest — calculated using the sum of household assets minus their liabilities — grew by more than £370,000 between 2006-08 and 2016-18 to reach £1.4m.

Resolution Foundation economist George Bangham says: “Pre-coronavirus Britain was marked by soaring wealth and damaging wealth gaps between households. 

“These wealth divides have been exposed by the crisis. 

“While higher-income households have built up their savings, many lower-income households have run theirs down and had to turn to high-interest credit.

“The impact of coronavirus crisis will be with families for many years to come. 

“That’s why it’s important for the government to both strengthen the social security safety net via Universal Credit, and assist more low and middle-income households in building up their private safety nets by boosting their savings.”

Standard Life Foundation chief executive Mubin Haq says: “Savings are not a nice to have, they are a must have.

“The growing jobs crisis and the tapering of furlough and self-employment support brings this to the fore. 

“People who lose their jobs or have a drop in their income, and have been unable to build up their savings, are being pushed into borrowing. 

“Those on the lowest incomes will have less choice and more likely to be reliant on high-cost credit.

“The government needs to move quickly to make further reforms to boost incomes so people are protected from the financial crisis created by the pandemic. 

“In the longer term the government needs to think of ways everyone has a greater share of the wealth generated in the UK.”