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PRINTNATION OF DEL BOYS CASHING IN ON CAR BOOT SALES
MORE people in the UK raise extra cash from selling unwanted items at car boot sales than by working longer hours, a study has revealed.
Research by poverty charity Elizabeth Finn Care has revealed that some 13 per cent of people are selling items at boot sales to battle the economic slump, compared to just nine per cent who work late to supplement their income.
Boot sales are most popular with women (15 per cent), while one in five people (19 per cent) aged 35 to 44 opt for the trestle table.
Bryan Clover, Director of Casework at Elizabeth Finn Care, said: “Many people are struggling to make ends meet and our research reveals that as a result many people cannot afford to replace or fix household items when they break.
“Some 27 per cent of people from a low socio-economic class cannot afford to fix or replace their washing machine if it breaks and 24 per cent of this group of people would have to wait to fix their cooker if it stopped working.
“As part of Elizabeth Finn Care we offer the Turn2us service which helps people to check their entitlement for benefits and see if they are eligible for help from one of the thousands of grant giving charities listed. It seems people are opting for car boot sales to supplement their income but £16.8 billion of welfare benefits go unclaimed every year and therefore I would also urge people to see if they can maximise their income by using Turn2us.”
It seems that men favour selling DVDs and CDs (seven per cent) to raise extra cash whereas one in 10 women sell their clothes. The research even reveals that two per cent of people resort to selling family heirlooms and another two per cent sell their wedding ring to raise more money.
Plus 10 per cent of people say they return gifts to the shop to get a refund to supplement their main income.
ENDS
For information, photographs and interviews, please contact:
Laura Johnston, Press Officer. Telephone: 020 8834 9260. Laura.johnston@elizabethfinn.org.uk
Hythe House, 200 Shepherds Bush Road, London, W6 7NL.
Notes to Editors:
· All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from GfK. Total sample size was 1001 adults aged 16 +. Fieldwork was undertaken by telephone between 19th-21st March 2010. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults.
· Around 13.5 million people in the UK live below the poverty line, including four million children, despite the fact that £16.8 billion of welfare benefits went unclaimed from 2007-2008 (source: DWP and HMRC).
· Elizabeth Finn Care is a charity that helps people in financial need through direct financial support and access to welfare benefits, grants and other financial help from over 3,500 charities using the Turn2us comprehensive website (www.turn2us.org.uk) and freephone helpline.
· Since being founded in 1897, the charity has given away over £130m to people in need. In 2009/2010 over 3564 British and Irish citizens were given grants totalling £3,669,920 by Elizabeth Finn Care.
· Turn2us was founded by Elizabeth Finn Care in 2007, and merged into Elizabeth Finn Care in October 2009.