Seven in ten people have no unemployment insurance, the new survey reveals.
Insurance against unemployment is notably unpopular in the UK, despite the looming threat of job losses due to the slowing economy.
This was the main finding of a new survey, released today by the Post Office. It revealed that 71 percent of people held no form of unemployment cover, despite 50 percent citing job loss as a major concern.
Official government figures show that unemployment currently stands at around 1.8 million. Analysts expect that this total will hit the two million mark by the end of the year, while one business group has predicted that it would rise to almost three million by 2010.
The economic slowdown is largely to blame for this trend, with credit crunch-hit employers looking to downsize in order to save money. GDP in the UK shrank by 0.5 percent over the last quarter - and recession is likely to be officially announced by the government at the end of the year.
Duncan Caesar-Gordon, Post Office head of protection, said: "It is worrying to see how many people do not have a back up in place to protect their finances if they lost their job. The number of people who are willing to rely on benefits without knowing what they would be entitled to receive is of great concern."
Over the course of this week, carmaker Jaguar has announced that it will cut 850 of its engineering and IT staff, while MFI and Woolworths both said that they would enter administration - a move which is likely to cause thousands of job losses.
Big cuts have also been announced at bank Citigroup, which has significant operations in the UK, and at BT.
