ALMOST 70 PER cent of Irish people are worried that they will not have enough money to live comfortably in the next year with almost half worried about losing their jobs or having difficulty finding work according to a survey.

In a survey carried out by the charity Samaritans and YouGov of more than 1,000 people in Ireland, 70 per cent of people said they were either very worried or fairly worried they would suffer as a result of spending cuts in areas like health, education and welfare next year.

Sixty-eight per cent fear they will not have enough money to live comfortably in 2012 while 49 per cent are worried about losing their jobs or finding it difficult to get work.

A fifth said they were worried or fairly worried they could lose their home next year while over 40 per cent of people (42 per cent) said they were very worried or fairly worried that they would suffer ill-health in 2012.

Money, debt and bank balance were chief among the worries of Irish people this past year, followed by problems or issues with family and friends.

The top five worries for Irish people over the last year were:

1. Money/bank balance/debt – 64 per cent
2. Problems/issues with family and friends – 37 per cent
3. Physical health issues – 32 per eent
4. Mortgage/rent/housing – 30 per cent
5. Job security/redundancy – 30 per cent

Samaritans’ Ireland Director Suzanne Costello said the charity had had more than 250,000 calls to its helpline over the past year, an increase of nine per cent.

“We know the effects of the recession have hit people hard, so if you’re struggling to cope with the challenges you’re facing in these difficult times, we’d encourage you to get in touch with Samaritans,” she said.

Samaritans runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is available throughout the Christmas and New Year period by phone: 1850 60 90 90; email: jo@samaritans.org; or face-to-face: visit www.samaritans.org for details of your local branch.