More than one in three Brits have no savings to fall back on as financial disaster looms.
Labour analysis shows 20 million adults cannot afford to put money away – three million more than when the Tories came to power in 2010.
That means they have nothing to cushion them against job losses which could hit four million by next year.
It comes as separate data from consumer watchdog Which? shows that low-income families have already been hardest hit by the lockdown.
Shadow Treasury Secretary Bridget Phillipson is now calling on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to help stop families plunging into poverty.
She said: “Huge growth in insecure work and a 12-year wage squeeze has left millions with neither a penny of savings.
“This pandemic exposed just how fragile household finances are. A social security system that takes weeks to kick in doesn’t help.”
The biggest rise in zero savings was among those aged 50-59 at 960,000, leaving 3.3million in the group with no retirement nest egg.
An extra 678,000 in their thirties have nothing in the bank, pushing the total to 3.8million, while the number of over-80s with no cash rose 242,000 to 780,000.
Even before the coronavirus, unsecured debt hit a new peak of £14,540 on average per family. According to the Which? research, three in 10 people earning up to £28,000 a year were unable to save during lockdown.
But for better-off families, any loss of income has been outweighed by a forced reduction in spending.
Just 25 per cent of households in rented properties have been able to save, compared with 44 per cent of owner-occupiers.
Gareth Shaw, from Which?, said: “It’s worrying those who were already worse off have been more likely to save less.
“The financial regulator is planning for what extra help banks can provide once existing support measures end.
“It’s vital assistance is tailored to those under the most severe strain.”
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