UK families on £70,000 income say they are struggling financially

More than half of people in the UK who earned £70,000 ($86,887) or more consider themselves to be financially struggling, new research claims.

The astonishingly high figure was revealed by comparison website Money.co.uk after it commissioned a poll into households who consider themselves to be "just about managing" – collectively referred to as JAMs.

It follows Chancellor Philip Hammond's Autumn statement in November in which he pledged to do more for JAM families.

However, six months on after Hammond took on the economic role from George Osborne, Money's research claims JAM families are still struggling.

It said 60% of all UK households are struggling financially, with 6% not coping at all.

Money.co.uk also claimed one in five working households (18%) have less than £100 a month to spare after they paid essential bills and one in three (32%) rely on their overdraft to get through.

Their research showed that it was not simply those with low incomes who struggled financially.

Emma King, a researcher at Money.co.uk, said: "[Our research] shows that being a JAM is not 'just' about income.

"It reveals that whilst it's more of a problem for 71% of those on household incomes of £30,000 or less, half of those surveyed with an annual household income of over £70,000 consider themselves JAMs and are struggling to get by each month."

As a result, Money.co.uk claims almost half of all UK households run out of money part-way through a month, costing them an average of £690 a year on credit card bills and overdraft fees.

Money commissioned OnePoll to carry out the research, in which 1,000 people with at least one child at home were questioned between 10 December and 22 December 2016.