People living in areas with high levels of job losses are unprepared for the financial strain of redundancy.
Financial advisers suggest people need savings of at least three times their monthly salary to tide them over in case they cannot work.
But few in areas which have been hit by job losses have this safety net, according to Barclays.
During the year to the end of September, 25,000 people were made redundant in the South-East, where people have average savings of £5,341, the equivalent of two-and-a-half months' average salary for the region.
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