Short-term loans for nurses on the rise due to the cost of living crisis

With the cost of living continuing to rise and wages failing to keep up, more and more healthcare workers are using short-term loans for nurses to help cover unexpected costs.

Healthcare workers in the UK play a vital role in delivering high-quality healthcare services to the population. They’re the backbone of the NHS, providing essential services in hospitals, clinics, and communities across the country. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of healthcare workers and their role in protecting public health has massively increased.

The NHS employs over 1.5 million people, including doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, porters, administrators, and many other healthcare professionals – working tirelessly to provide medical care to patients. Their skills and expertise are crucial, ensuring that people receive the best possible treatment as quickly as possible.

Between 1st and 24th December 2024, Moneyboat saw a 188% increase in applications from healthcare workers compared to the same period in 2023. That’s nearly 5x higher than the 39% rise we saw between 2022 and 2023! It’s clear that nurses, carers, and other professionals in the NHS are finding it increasingly difficult to rely on their wages when hit with unexpected costs.

Short-term loans for nurses are designed to help healthcare workers get through financial emergencies. If this is you, these short-term loans can help keep you afloat until you can replenish your funds. They’re not meant to be used as a first choice, a regular source of credit, or a debt solution.

Read more about why more nurses and healthcare workers are turning to short-term loans as professionals continue to struggle with the high cost of living. We’ll also cover alternative options that may help tide you over if you’re caught short.

Why are more healthcare workers taking out loans?

When healthcare workers earn less than it costs to live, we begin to see more and more applying for payday loans for NHS staff – especially when looking to make ends meet in the face of an emergency cost.

While Moneyboat doesn’t provide payday loans, our short-term loans can be used by healthcare professionals to cover unexpected costs and spread repayments over two to six instalments. There’s also the flexibility to repay the loan in full when you’re next paid – helping you to keep your finances under control until your next payday.

The cost of food and energy has skyrocketed in the last five years. And while recent boosts in the National Living Wage is a welcome change, it continues to fall short of real living wages. The challenges of living on unmanageable wages can take a serious toll on a person’s physical and mental health, as well as their ability to find joy in everyday life.

Living with financial stress and worrying about how you’re going to keep up with bills and expenses can encourage people to look for alternative solutions, including short-term loans.

Inflation vs. wages

At the peak of the recent cost of living crisis, inflation rates stood at approximately 11% in October 2022. As of March 2025, inflation has dropped to 2.6%.

However, it’s unlikely that the cost of basics like food and utilities will ever return to what we knew before the extreme rise in inflation – at least not by much. In fact, it only means that UK prices are rising less quickly.

Meanwhile, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the annual average wages in the private sector grew by 6.2%, while public sector wages grew by just 4.7%.

For those employed in either sector, wages continue to struggle to recover from the height of the cost of living crisis. But the difference between private and public sector wage increases remains clear for all to see.

Some healthcare workers are turning to food banks

For most of these struggling healthcare workers, short-term loans aren’t a realistic option as regulated lenders don’t provide loans to people in financially vulnerable positions. Although they may be able to help some struggling public sector workers with one-off emergency costs, short-term loans are not available for any long-term use.

According to a survey by the Cavell Nurses’ Trust, 14% of nurses and healthcare workers were using food banks in 2023. Today, nurses and trainee paramedics continue to be among some of the most frequent food bank users.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says “When you have essential costs to meet, payday can seem a long way off”.

Loan alternatives for nurses

For those who are regularly struggling to make ends meet, more suitable solutions may be available. For example, financial wellbeing apps allow workers to control how and when they are paid. Nurses can ‘borrow’ funds from future wage packets, which gives them more flexibility.

Explore some of the options below to help meet essential costs and expenses when your funds are limited until your next paycheck.

See what support your Trust provides

Each NHS Trust will have differing levels of financial support, so it’s a good idea to check in with your line manager or HR department to see what’s available. For example, some Trusts have arrangements which allow NHS staff to take out a loan and repay it through their salary. You may also find a range of financial wellbeing tools and professional support available.

Support from the RCN Foundation

The RCN Foundation is an independent charity offering support to nurses, midwives, and healthcare support workers across the UK. They understand how tough things can get – especially when life throws unexpected challenges your way. That’s why they offer hardship grants to help cover essential costs during difficult times.

They also provide education and research grants to help you develop your skills and continue delivering great care. You don’t need to be an RCN member to apply. Their support is open to anyone in the healthcare community who needs a helping hand.

Ask for a salary advance

If you find that your finances are suddenly under pressure and you need money before your payday arrives, it might be worth reaching out to your employer for an advance.

Be honest and candid about how you might be struggling with cash flow at the moment, and how an advance in your salary would help you tide things over. Some employers may even be able to arrange beneficial loans to employees during times of financial hardship.

Apply for an advance benefit payment

If you’re eligible for Universal Credit, you can also apply for a Universal Credit advance payment. This is an interest-free loan to help cover expenses until your first payment arrives. You can apply for advanced payments ahead of your first Universal Credit allowance if you can’t afford to pay your rent or buy food.

If you agree to an advance, you’ll repay the loan in small instalments taken from future Universal Credit payments. You might also pay it back by other means, such as a salary or other benefits, if you don’t receive Universal Credit anymore.

Apply for a Budgeting Loan

If you don’t receive Universal Credit, but you’re eligible for other benefits, you may be able to apply for a Budgeting Loan. This can help cover essential costs such as:

• Household white goods
• Rent
• Clothes
• Moving costs
• Home maintenance and repairs
• Travel costs
• Maternity costs
• Funeral costs
• Expenses associated with a new job

A Budgeting Loan can help make ends meet until your cash flow improves. However, you can only apply if you receive one or more of the following benefits for at least six months:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit

If you’ve recently moved from Universal Credit to Pension Credit, this time will count towards the minimum six months.

Apply for an authorised overdraft

Depending on your circumstances, you might be able to apply for an authorised overdraft on your current account. An overdraft lets you withdraw cash from your account below £0, which you’ll need to repay with interest later.

Banks may offer different overdraft terms, and some may be more flexible than others. You will often receive an overdraft limit which you can withdraw up to if you need access to emergency cash. However, if you go over your arranged overdraft limit, it may negatively impact your credit score.

Compare alternative credit options

If you need to borrow money but you’d rather not dip into your savings, there are other credit options available that could potentially be more affordable.

• Credit cards often let you use credit and pay it back within 30 days without incurring any interest, which could be cheaper than using a high-interest payday loan.
• You might also be able to apply for a low-interest loan from a credit union.

Financial support from family and friends

Don’t forget to reach out to family and friends for support if you need to borrow money for an emergency. Turning to loved ones can help you avoid paying interest charges and impacting your credit score.

And if you do, it’s always a good idea to discuss an agreed repayment plan to make sure you pay them back for their help.

Responsible loans for healthcare workers

A lot has changed in the short-term loan industry in recent years. The vast majority of operators respond quickly to changes in affordability, aiming to find helpful solutions for customers who need to take out a loan.

People often need to use short-term loans when traditional lenders, such as banks and credit card providers, can't or won’t provide credit. This may be due to  bad credit, it’s deemed unaffordable, or because the application process simply takes too long. In those circumstances, being able to get a short-term loan can mean the difference between being able to fix a broken car or buy a school uniform – for example –  or risk being locked out of being able to utilise life’s essentials.

Here at Moneyboat, we only provide loans to those who are in full or part-time employment and meet our minimum eligibility requirements. We always conduct thorough affordability checks to ensure you’ll be able to meet the repayments.

Still, it seems that more and more of our valued nurses and carers can no longer rely on their wages to cover unexpected costs to cover the basics. In times like these, our fair and flexible short-term loans for NHS workers might be able to help cover emergency costs and offer interim relief.

Explore more helpful resources

Visit our blog for more helpful articles and financial guides designed to support your financial goals. Discover everything from our Personal Finance 101 guide for further insights on financial know-how, to budgeting tips when you’re paid weekly.

Coping with financial pressures can feel overwhelming and isolating, but you don’t have to face it alone. If you’re struggling with stress caused by unexpected costs, the cost of living or a sudden job loss, there are plenty of services available for support.

Reach out to external resources such as StepChange, Citizens Advice, and the Royal College of Nursing Welfare Service for free and independent advice. You might also be able to seek support and urgent assistance from your local council.

This blog has been edited on 29th April 2025 to better reflect our company policy in relation to care workers.