44% of people who took out a payday loan in the last 12 months used it to pay for everyday essentials such as food and travel costs, according to new research conducted on behalf of debt advice and solutions provider Debt Advisory Centre (DAC).

Across the UK as a whole, 7% of adults – or 3.5m people – say that they have taken out a payday loan in the past 12 months. There is a clear male/female split, with 9% of men, but just 5% of women, saying that they’ve used payday loans in the past year. There is also a clear bias towards younger borrowers – 17% of 25-34 year olds have borrowed in this way, compared to 9% of 35-44 year olds, and 3.6% of people aged 45-54.

When it comes to the reasons for borrowing, by far the most common was to pay for essentials such as food (44%). A further 35% say they took a short term loan to cover their rent or mortgage, and a further 22% to pay other bills.

Meanwhile, one-fifth of payday borrowers use the money to pay for a holiday, and 5% to treat themselves.

Reasons for taking a payday loan:

To buy essentials (e.g. food or travel) – 44%
To pay rent / mortgage – 35%
To pay bills – 22%
For a holiday – 20%
To repay other unsecured debts – 18%
To buy kids Christmas / Birthday presents – 12%
For a one off emergency (e.g. boiler repairs) – 13%
To treat myself (clothes, shoes, handbag etc.) – 5%
I owed somebody money – 3%

Ian Williams, spokesman for DAC, said: “Many people who are struggling with money problems often put off tackling them – for example, believing that if they can just borrow some money to get through this month, then things will be better next month.

“However, for a great many people that simply isn’t true: if you have got to the stage where you need to borrow money to buy food or pay the rent, a loan isn’t the solution – it is time to seek expert help with you finances.”