LOW and middle-income households are more vulnerable to the next economic downturn as a result of the last financial crisis,

a new study suggests.

A decade of weak income growth has left lower-income families in a more vulnerable position, said the Resolution Foundation.

It has previously warned that the risk of recession is at its highest level since 2007.

Before the financial crash a decade ago, the received wisdom was that the poorest families bore the brunt of recessions. However, the “pain” of the 2008 recession was more evenly distributed, the foundation said.

The report added that low and middle income families have been spending their limited savings, so that nearly 60% of this group now have nothing put aside. The foundation said this lack of savings means that low and middle-income families are more vulnerable than in 2007.