Scotsmen top UK league in putting savings aside

WOMEN across Britain are building up larger savings cash pots than men, despite earning less.

However, men in Scotland are bucking the trend, according to a UK-wide survey.

The Halifax Savings Report found that women typically have £7,981 put aside, or 40 per cent of their gross average earnings, compared with £7,657 for men, accounting for 23 per cent of their typical salary. However, in Scotland and the north of England men were found to have saved more than women.

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Halifax used its own savings database to compile the report, alongside official statistics on earnings.

The banking group suggested women’s savings were likely to have been boosted by wealthier partners transferring cash into their names for tax purposes, as well as the numbers of older women inheriting money after their husband had died.

Halifax economist Martin Ellis said: “Two key themes emerge from the Halifax savings survey.

“Firstly, there is a wide variation in regional balances, and secondly, women appear to be saving more than men.

“Whilst women typically have slightly higher savings balances than men, the difference as a proportion of earnings is quite substantial.

“Female savers seem to be managing to devote more of their earnings to savings.”

The report found that, overall, customers in the south of England, including Greater London, the south east, the south west and East Anglia, had a typical balance of £8,734, equating to 29 per cent of gross annual earnings for those regions.

People in the rest of the UK had a slightly lower balance of £7,759 but put a higher proportion of their average income away, the equivalent of 33 per cent of typical local earnings for those areas.