There was a significant drop in UK financial happiness during the ongoing political uncertainty in June and ahead of the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Dynamic Planner’s Financial Happiness Index fell by 19% between 20-21 June before Mr Starmer’s announcement on 22 June.
Dr Louis Williams, head of psychology and behavioural insights at Dynamic Planner, said: “Financial happiness started the month on a relatively strong footing, with scores for financial resilience running higher in the first half of June than across May.
“However, that momentum broke sharply around mid-month and did not fully recover. A dramatic fall came around the 20th-21st of June, as political uncertainty reached its peak ahead of Keir Starmer's resignation announcement on the 22nd of June.”
She said emotional resilience in particular fell sharply. However financial resilience proved fairly stable throughout suggesting that while people reacted emotionally to political turbulence, their underlying sense of financial security remained largely intact.
Dr Williams said: “The overall monthly averages in June reflect the impact of political uncertainty, as scores in the second half dragged down what had been a reasonably positive start leading to a slightly lower UK financial happiness level than the previous month.”
The Index produced by the Financial Planning Software provider is a barometer built on the views of more than 4,000 people every month who are engaging with an adviser or are already advised.
It is based on a 12-question survey developed from Dynamic Planner’s Financial Wellbeing Questionnaire and is designed to measure people’s financial resilience, their emotional resilience and their financial knowledge and confidence.
The index has been published monthly since July 2023.