These Glasgow areas are the most at risk during the cost of living crisis

The Financial Vulnerability Index gives each constituency in the UK a score - the higher the score out of 100, the greater the financial vulnerability experienced by people in the area.

The Glasgow East constituency has been given the highest score of the seven in Glasgow, with 51.4%.

That’s almost 10% higher than the Scottish average (41.7%) and much higher than the UK average (43.1%).

Glasgow North East is ranked as the second most vulnerable (51.2%), with Glasgow South West following (50.3%).

Glasgow North West (47.7%), Glasgow Central (45.8%), Glasgow South (45.6%), and Glasgow North (42.6%) round off the list.

To see how that compares to the scores given out earlier in the year, see our previous story.

How was the index worked out?

The tool, created by debt collection company Lowell and US-based think tank, Urban Institute, measures the financial health of Westminster constituencies across the UK.

It looks at the share of Lowell consumers who are in default, with high-cost loans, and their average credit score. It also measures the percentage of people claiming benefits, without emergency savings, and using alternative financial products.

How did Scotland fare?

Scotland experienced the biggest improvement in financial health in the UK between Q4 2021 and Q2 2022, with a steep rise in Q4 2021.

Overall financial vulnerability was at 41.7 at the end of Q2 2022, 1.4 points lower than the UK average.

The report says this is likely due to the 2.7-point drop in consumer defaults, while the UK remained the same.

At the same time, credit allowance use in Scotland overtook the UK in Q4 2021 and was 1.9 points higher in Q2 2022.

‘Needs to take action’

John Pears, UK CEO at Lowell, said: “On paper it might look like Scotland is faring better than the rest of the UK, but we’re seeing an uptick in credit usage which means people are having to borrow extra money.

“The cost of living is increasing across the board and with budgets being stretched to their limit, people are turning to credit more and more.

“The new government needs to take action to ensure households, especially the lowest incomes, get the support they need. With the recent changes to the price cap, bringing energy bills down has to be the priority. This needs to be at the top of the agenda.”