The UK industries where workers are living payday to payday

Full-time work is supposed to cover the month, and on paper it mostly does. Only 8.8% of full-time jobs are paid below the National Living Wage. But prices are nearly a third higher than in 2021, and a single adult now needs £30,500 a year to reach a minimum acceptable standard of living. So how far does a full-time wage really stretch, and which jobs are running out of money before payday? 

We surveyed 1,000 UK adults in full-time employment in October 2026. We asked what they earn, whether their take-home pay covers their essential outgoings, how many days before payday their money runs out, whether they do extra paid work to get by, and which costs put them under the most pressure. We then compared the answers across 12 industries to reveal the jobs most likely to be living payday to payday. 

In this report, “living payday to payday” means a worker’s take-home pay either covers their essentials with nothing left over or falls short in some or most months. 

• More than half of full-time workers (57.8%) have no money to spare after rent, bills, food and transport, or their wage doesn’t cover them at all. 

• Nearly 1 in 2 (46.8%) run out of money over a week (7.9 days) before payday. 

• Admin and support workers are the most likely to live payday to payday (74%), against 37.2% in IT and telecoms. 

• Six in ten (60.7%) have a second income or are looking for one, and IT and telecoms do the most extra work (50.4%) despite reporting the highest salary among those analysed. 

• Rent or mortgage puts the most pressure on workers’ finances (31%), and 35.2% have used a credit card or overdraft to pay for essentials. 

Just over four in ten full-time workers (42.2%) report covering their essentials comfortably. A further four in ten (40.7%) say their pay covers their essential outgoings but leaves nothing over, and around one in six (17.1%) say it falls short in some or most months. 

Admin and support services, including cleaners, security staff, call centre workers, receptionists and facilities workers, record the highest rate of living payday to payday of any industry, at 74%. They are also among the lowest paid: 10% earn £50,000 or more, the smallest share in the survey, and the median worker earns between £30,000 and £34,999. Hospitality and retail workers report similarly high rates, at 64.3% and 64.2%. Both are identified as low-pay sectors by the Living Wage Foundation, whose separate analysis of all employee jobs finds hospitality has the highest proportion of jobs paid below the real living wage, at 53.1%, and retail and wholesale the largest number, more than a million. 

The opposite applies in the best-paid industries. IT and telecoms is the best-paid industry in the survey, with 58.4% earning £50,000 or more, and records the lowest rate of payday to payday living, at 37.2%. 

Professional services rank second on both measures, with 43.5% earning £50,000 or more and 46.4% living payday to payday. 

Public administration and defence are the fourth best-paid industry in the survey, with 30.1% earning £50,000 or more, yet 58.9% of its workers are living payday to payday. Education sits mid-table on pay at 26.3% and fourth from the top on payday to payday living at 63.2%. 

The gap is widest where pay doesn’t cover essentials at all: 20% of education workers and 23.3% in public administration and defence say their pay falls short in some or most months, against around one in six workers overall. 

Nearly half of all full-time workers (46.8%) run out of money before payday. Among those who do, pay runs out an average of 7.9 days early, which, in a 30-day pay period, leaves around 22 days covered and more than a week to cover through savings, credit or borrowing. The gap is considerably wider for some: around one in six (17.2%) run out at least eight days before payday, and 6.7% run out 15 days or more before payday. 

The three industries where pay runs out earliest are all heavily represented in the public sector: education (9.2 days before payday), health and social care (8.9 days) and public administration and defence (8.7). The sectors include teachers, school support staff, nurses, care workers, civil servants, council staff and the armed forces. Workers in construction and trades, including builders, plumbers and joiners, make their pay last the longest, running out 6.3 days early, nearly three days later than education. 

Among workers who run out, the differences between industries are small. Construction and trades pay lasts longest at 23.7 days, and education pay is shortest at 20.8, a span of 2.9 days across all twelve industries. No industry reaches a full pay period. What varies between industries is how many workers run short, not how long they are short for. 

Nearly one in three full-time workers (30.4%) do extra paid work on top of their main job to help cover their living costs. That includes 7.3% who hold a second regular job and 23.1% who take on occasional freelance, gig or side work. A further 30.3% are actively looking for extra work, so six in ten (60.7%) either have a second income or are trying to find one. 

Half of IT and telecoms workers (50.4%) do extra paid work, the highest rate of any industry and well above the 30.4% rate across all workers. Health and social care follow at 39.6%. At the other end, transport, logistics and utilities record 14.3% and public administration and defence 17.8%, the two lowest in the survey, meaning the highest rate is more than three times the lowest. 

Most of it is occasional work rather than a second job. In IT and telecoms, four-fifths of the extra work being done is freelance, gig or side work. 

Financial need does not explain the ranking. IT and telecoms are the least likely of any industry to live payday to payday, at 37.2%, yet do the most extra work. Transport, logistics and utilities sit above the all-worker rate at 58.7% yet do the least. 

A second regular job is rarer than occasional work. Health and social care lead there: 14.9% hold one, twice the rate across all full-time workers, ahead of IT and telecoms.

Housing is the largest single pressure. Nearly one in three full-time workers (31%) name rent or mortgage payments as the cost that places the most pressure on their finances. 

Energy bills rank second at 19.6%, followed by food and groceries at 13.0% and council tax, water and other bills at 8.7%. Credit card, loan and other debt repayments account for 8.4%, and car costs, including finance, fuel and insurance, 7.2%. 

Smaller shares name supporting family or dependants (3.5%), childcare (2.7%) and public transport or commuting (1.5%). A further 4.4% report that none of these costs place pressure on their finances. 

Four in five full-time workers (80.7%) have taken at least one of the below steps in the past 12 months. The pattern runs from cutting back to borrowing, and from borrowing to going without. More than one in three (35.2%) have cut back on heating or energy, and the same share have used a credit card or overdraft for essentials. One in five (20%) have skipped meals, and around one in 12 (8.7%) have gone without a prescription, dental treatment or medical care. 

What employers can do
When pay doesn’t stretch to the end of the month, people start looking elsewhere, or they take on extra work that leaves them with less energy for their main job. Showing staff a clear route to a higher salary inside the business can keep them. A job architecture framework sets out how roles, skills and pay connect, so employees can see what it takes to progress. Career development programmes then help them build the skills to get there. For workers looking to move into better-paid roles, redeployment support can match their transferable skills to open positions in your organisation before they look outside it. Read more about how career clarity drives employee retention.

Careerminds UK surveyed 1,000 UK adults in full-time employment aged 18 to 64 via Pollfish in October 2026, and all percentages are a share of all 1,000 workers unless stated otherwise. Living paycheque to paycheque means take-home pay covers essential outgoings with nothing left over or falls short in some or most months. The average number of days before payday is calculated among respondents who report running out of money. Calculations of how long pay lasts assume a 30-day pay period. Income figures are self-reported and represent earnings before tax. Average salaries are estimated from the midpoint of each respondent’s pay band.