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The average employee has only about a month's savings to maintain their lifestyle if their income suddenly stopped, a report says.

According to the survey of 2,000 people by insurance giant Legal & General savings would stretch for 32 days.

Some 26% of people said savings would run out in a week or less, and 23% said they had nothing to fall back on.

"Unfortunately, the UK still clearly suffers from a savings and protection gap," says L&G's Richard Kateley.

More than one in five - 22% - of people surveyed said they had less than £500 in savings.

As a general rule, many financial advisers suggest people have at least three months of salary saved in case of emergencies.

The "deadline to the breadline" varied across the UK, the research found, with employees in Northern Ireland believing their savings would last for 36 days on average - the longest time period in the survey.

People in Wales typically believed they would have the shortest period before their savings pots ran out, at 26 days on average after losing their main source of income.

Mr Kateley, head of intermediary development for L&G said: "We merely rent our lifestyles and we pay each month for it through our earnings. Take away those earnings and it may not just be your house that you are thrown out of, but your entire lifestyle."

How long on average before your lifestyle might suffer?