Getting By With A Little Help From Your Friends

Having close family and friends is important at any time, but they really come into their own during a crisis, providing emotional, practical and financial support.

- Harvey Jones

Families have been rushing to help each other during the coronavirus pandemic, even if they have not always been able to meet, due to self-isolation and social distancing.

From arranging online food deliveries for older family members to giving free haircuts to others in the same household, every little helps.

Growing numbers will need financial support as four out of 10 say their income has dropped during the pandemic, typically by a third, and furlough schemes struggle to plug the gap.

Many need help with everyday bills, including essential food and medicine, research from banking app Yolt shows.

Pulling together in this way shows the nation at its best and will make things easier to bear, just be careful about being overly generous if your own finances are also under strain.

HELP AT HAND

The pandemic has triggered a wave of generosity as 20 per cent say they have given friends and family help, such as paying bills or making up lost income, while another 17 per cent offer longer-term support, by gifting or passing on an early inheritance, for example.

Given that 15 per cent were already supporting loved ones before Covid-19, more than half of us could now be offering a helping hand, according to research from wealth manager Quilter.