Over 10% of Brits would rather admit to a ‘sickie’ than being in debt

National Sickie Day – the first working Monday of February – is known as such because it is statistically the day when most workers are likely to call in sick.

According to new research from Tesco Bank more than one in ten (13%) Brits would rather admit they’d falsely called in sick at work than having some form of debt.

• One in seven (15%) would rather admit to their family or partner that they’d forgotten a birthday or anniversary than having some form of debt, with this increasing to 21% among 18-34 year olds.
• One in ten (9%) would rather admit that they’d skipped out on a social event with their family or partner for no real reason rather than having some form of debt, with this being 16% of 18-34 year olds.
• Another tenth (9%) of consumers would rather admit to how many relationships they’d been in than having some form of debt, with this rising to 14% of 18-34 year olds.
• 8% would rather admit they’d ghosted someone than having some form of debt. This doubles to 16% among 18-34 year olds who would rather admit this.
• 7% would rather admit they’d crashed their car.
  • 12% of 18-34 year olds would rather admit they’d crashed the car.
• 5% would rather admit they didn’t fancy their partner on first meeting than having some form of debt.
  • 11% of 18-34 year olds said they would rather admit this than if they have some form of debt.
• Encouragingly, 64% of consumers would rather admit they were in some form of debt than admit to anything else.
  • Yet, it is older consumers who would rather be truthful about having some form of debt, with 80% of 55+ year olds and 64% of 35-54 year olds agreeing with this. Only two fifths (40%) of 18-34 year olds say they’d rather admit having some form of debt, pointing to a generational difference in opinion on the subject.

Mamta Shanbhag, Help me Borrow Director at Tesco Bank, comments: “Debt is something that most people encounter at some point in their lives. But, for younger individuals in particular, having debt can invoke similar feelings of embarrassment, guilt, or judgment to forgetting an important birthday or lying to work about being sick.

“While the majority of Brits (64%) will share the fact they have debt, others would rather avoid the conversation. But it’s important not to be silent. These are necessary conversations, especially when larger life decisions are involved, like buying a house. It’s crucial to remember that you’re not alone in your financial journey, and support is always available, whether from friends or family, debt charities, or your bank.”

Methodology

Research conducted by Opinium Research on behalf of Tesco Bank. Sample was 2,000 UK adults (aged 18+). Fieldwork was undertaken between 20th September – 23rd September 2024. All data has been weighted to be representative of the UK population.