Guidance from the government-backed Money Advice Service recommends people save enough to cover three months’ worth of outgoings in case of an emergency, such as losing a job.

But figures from Yorkshire Building Society show 26 per cent of people’s savings would last them a matter of weeks, while one in 10 have enough savings to last a few days.

One in seven don’t have any savings at all.

Mike Regnier, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “Our research highlights just how fragile many people’s finances are. While it can be hard for people to put money away, we mustn’t overlook the social pressures people come under to spend rather than save.”

Higher earners were nearly as likely to struggle to live off their savings than lower paid workers.

Two in five (43 per cent) people earning more than £100,000 said that without a job they wouldn’t be able to cope financially for more than three months, compared with 51 per cent of workers earning less than £15,000 a year.

Almost half (49 per cent) of those surveyed felt pressure to spend money as a result of what they see on social media, and a third (33 per cent) feel they need to spend to keep up with family and friends.

Additionally, two in five people (43 per cent) admit they regularly spend money on impulse purchases they later regret and would rather have saved, with one in seven (14 per cent) saying they’ve spent more than £500 in the last year which they instead now wish they had in their savings.