Half of Britons being plunged into insolvency are women, the highest proportion since records began, a report revealed yesterday.
It predicts official figures, which will be published tomorrow, will show women account for nearly 50 per cent of all insolvencies in England and Wales for the first time in history.
Experts say they fear it is proof that women have paid the biggest price for the recession, with hundreds of thousands losing their jobs.
More than one million women in Britain are unemployed, with numbers growing by around 500 a day.
Many women who do have a job are frustrated because they have been forced into part-time work, which is typically badly paid.
Women also account for around two-thirds of the State workforce, which means they have been more affected by the Government’s cull of the public sector.
The report, from accountancy firm RSM Tenon, predicts tomorrow’s figures will show women make up a record 49.2 per cent of all insolvencies.
Mark Sands, head of personal insolvency at RSM Tenon, said it was a “bleak day for female credit ratings up and down the UK”.